There is a social element of waste management that is also grabbing the attention of the South African public, and rightly so for the role that they play in South Africa’s waste economy – the informal waste sector. It is estimated that there are between sixty and ninety thousand informal waste pickers working at the heart of South Africa’s recycling economy, recovering mostly paper and packaging waste from the service chain and introducing these secondary resources into the country’s value chain. Government, industry and civil society recognize the important role of waste pickers in the diversion of valuable resources away from landfill towards reuse and recycling. The guideline is intended to support the implementation of South Africa’s National Waste Management Strategy, and is recognised as contributing towards a just transition to a low carbon economy as outlined in the National Development Plan – Vision 2030, and to a more circular economy as outlined in the White Paper on Science Technology and Innovation.
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