The City of Cape Town has sounded the alarm, urging the swift purchase and development of a new regional landfill site as the Coastal Park facility in Muizenberg faces dwindling space with only four years of capacity left.
In its 2023 Infrastructure Report, the City has highlighted the urgent need for action, warning that once Coastal Park reaches its limit, all waste disposal will shift to the Vissershok landfill near Table View, placing immense strain on its operations.
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The call for additional landfill space comes amid Cape Town’s burgeoning population growth.
‘We are now a metro of almost 5-million people, and we’re about to overtake Johannesburg as the most populous metro in the country,’ emphasises City of Cape Town Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
This population surge raises concerns about whether there will be adequate capacity to manage waste disposal in a city experiencing such rapid growth.
However, bureaucratic hurdles have hampered progress in establishing a new landfill site, with delays stemming from red tape and stakeholder appeals in the Environmental Impact Assessment process.
‘The prolonged delays in acquiring land for a new regional landfill site pose a significant challenge,’ notes the report. The targeted date for land acquisition is 2026, just one year before Coastal Park reaches full capacity, leaving little room for error.
Meanwhile, plans are underway to repurpose Coastal Park even after it reaches capacity. The creation of a refuse transfer station (RTS) will enable waste disposal at the site before transportation to Vissershok.
Originally, there were plans to develop an organic reduction facility alongside the RTS to manage organic waste more efficiently. However, procurement challenges and technical hurdles have delayed this aspect of the project.
As a result, the focus now is on completing the RTS first, with the organic reduction facility to follow in phases.
Despite these setbacks, the City underscores the importance of prioritising these projects to alleviate pressure on existing landfill sites and ensure sustainable waste management for Cape Town’s growing population.
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Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook