Implementing small, and medium enterprises (SME) waste and recycling programmes

Abstract

Municipalities face the challenge of how to manage their waste, in an environment where other priorities like water, housing and electricity are competing for funding from municipal budgets. Management should include avoidance or prevention where possible and then diversion from landfill through source separation programs as per the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS)(DEA, 2011). The NWMS has committed to “69 000 new jobs created in the waste sector” and “2 600 additional SMEs and cooperatives participating in waste service delivery and recycling” (DEA, 2011: 6) by 2016. This challenge rests on the shoulders of local government for implementation. This paper is based on research work the CSIR (which the author and colleagues) conducted for the DBSA and Green fund on cooperatives in the waste and recycling sector. The findings discussed will provide some insight into what should be considered in establishing or implementing a viable waste SME program. Considerations for the SME organisation, the organisation supporting the SME, and external factors are discussed below.