About the DSTI/NRF/CSIR SARChI Chair in Waste and Society
CONTEXT, HISTORY, AND OBJECTIVES
According to the last official published statistics for South Africa, 90% of all waste was disposed to land (landfills and dumpsites) in 2011. According to the CSIR, an estimated 7.2% of urban and 6.2% of rural households regularly separate their waste for recycling. Furthermore, South Africans still landfilled R17 billion worth of resources, as waste, every year (as at 2011). These statistics underline the challenges that South Africa is facing in respect to waste. The mismanagement of waste has a direct negative impact on the environment and on the health of communities. However, the paradigm shift from “waste” to “resource” brings opportunities for improved livelihoods and the reduction in poverty. In light of the these figures, challenges and opportunities, reconceptualising the way we deal with waste as a society not only builds a cleaner and more environmentally sustainable South Africa, but has the potential to unlock job opportunities, improve livelihoods and reduce unemployment. The South African waste sector is in desperate need of change.
OUR FOCUS
The Chair focuses on research to create and foster appreciation for the value of waste in service of the wellbeing of people and the environment. This core purpose of the Chair is supported by four research aims.
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In the first place, the team concentrates on understanding perceptions and behaviour relating to waste. Insights gained from research concentrating on this aim, have the potential to bolster behavioural change and waste diversion strategies. Integrating informal waste pickers in relevant solutions is also an important consideration. Evidence based research focuses on communication and awareness strategies to changing South Africa’s behaviour.
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In the second place, the Chair explores job creation opportunities along the waste value chain. International studies have indicated that for one job in landfilling, four jobs could be created in composting, ten in material recovery facilities, 25 in recycling and 296 in computer reuse. The identification of direct, indirect and induced job opportunities in different waste value streams and waste value chains, in South Africa, is therefore of significant value.
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In the third place, business models are investigated and developed, with a focus on small businesses in the waste sector. Many SME opportunities exist in waste diversion. The realisation of these opportunities contributes to the national target set in the second National Waste Management Strategy, to create 69 000 jobs and 2600 SMMEs. In the third place, business models are investigated and developed, with a focus on small businesses in the waste sector. Many SME opportunities exist in waste diversion. The realisation of these opportunities contributes to the national target set in the second National Waste Management Strategy, to create 69 000 jobs and 2600 SMMEs.
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Lastly, the Chair supports and capacitates emerging researchers. The number of established and emerging researchers and postgraduate students in the field of waste and society has grown since the establishment of the Chair in 2018. By involving students and researchers in research projects, developing research partnerships, and hosting conferences, workshops and seminars, the Chair contributes to establishing a corpus of skilled researchers in the waste field. Lastly, the Chair supports and capacitates emerging researchers. The number of established and emerging researchers and postgraduate students in the field of waste and society has grown since the establishment of the Chair in 2018. By involving students and researchers in research projects, developing research partnerships, and hosting conferences, workshops and seminars, the Chair contributes to establishing a corpus of skilled researchers in the waste field.
The DSTI/NRF/CSIR SARChI Chair in Waste and Society is headed by the former HOD of the Department of Social Work at UWC, Professor Rinie Schenck. She has more than 50 years of experience in social sciences. Her fields of specialisation include poverty and unemployment, informal employment, waste recycling, day labour studies and community development
We form part of a Community of Practice
We form part of the National Research Foundation’s Communities of Practice (CoP) Initiative. CoPs are defined as Research Chair-led alliances, in which established researchers collaborate to produce solution-oriented research findings with an intention to translate research outputs into tangible outcomes and influence policy development and implementation through communication of the relevant research findings.
This particular CoP aims at unlocking the economic, societal and environmental potential of the currently largely untapped resource: waste in South Africa. The research approach is geared according to this core aim by drawing together the activities of a number of SARChI Chairs and collaborators from different disciplines – social sciences, law, economics and engineering – to explore in parallel various dimensions of the question of how to unlock this potential in the most equitable way in the South African context.
The CoP is hosted by the University of Cape Town and led by Professor Jochen Petersen. The SARChI Chairs who are part of the CoP are the following:
LEAD CHAIR: PROFESSOR JOCHEN PETERSEN
SARChI Chair – Minerals Beneficiation University of Cape Town
PROFESSOR CATHERINA SCHENCK
SARChI Chair – Minerals Beneficiation University of Cape Town
PROFESSOR ANN STARKE
SARChI Chair – Sugarcane Biorefining
University of Kwa Zulu Nata
PROFESSOR CRISTINA TROIS
DSTI/NRF/CSIR SARChI Chair –
Waste and Climate Change
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal l
PROFESSOR HANRI MOSTERT
SARChI Chair – Mineral Law in Africa
University of Cape Town
