The promotion of environmental sustainability through waste management in Johannesburg

Abstract

The main focus of the GDS 2040 as implemented by the City of Johannesburg is the fulfillment of the 7th point in the Millennium Development Goal, which is to achieve a sustainable environment. Waste management is a direct method of achieving this goal and therefore has been one of the important implementations by the City of Johannesburg. This paper illuminates the waste management practices that would assist Johannesburg in achieving environmental sustainability. A document analysis was carried out in order to understand the different waste management practices used in Johannesburg, and compared them to the waste management practices of four other cities with an outstanding record of waste management practices, namely Kigali, Curitiba, Singapore and Berlin. The analysis identified a number of recommendations which, if applied, would improve the management of waste in Johannesburg and as such increase the chances of achieving a sustainable environment.