After extensive renovations, expansion, and upgrades the facility now caters to various waste streams and is licensed to temporarily store, sort, shred, chip, grind and bale waste. It also provides a weighbridge to weigh the waste. The improved facility facilitates waste minimisation and the further processing of waste.
The facility is open to the public seven days a week. The gates open at 07:00 daily and close at 19:00, except for Sundays, when closing time is at 18:00. Differentiated times will apply during winter.
Building contractors no longer have to travel to Great Brak River as building rubble may be dumped at this facility, albeit at a small fee applicable to contractors and businesses only.
The public may use the facility free of charge to dispose of household and most kinds of hazardous household waste, Sivuyile Mtila, Senior Manager (Waste Management,) explained to the Acting Executive Mayor, Alderman Dirk Kotzé, who officially opened the facility, and to the Councillors, the Municipal Manager, Adv Thys Giliomee and the Director of Community Services, Elize Nel.
Alderman Kotzé expressed the hope that the facility will also contribute to the management of illegal dumping. He thanked the personnel, Isak Piedt, Cecil van Wyk and Akhona Damoyi for their dedication and remarked on the neat gardens that are taking shape as a testimony of the pride they take in their work. He thanked Siphe Williams and Sivu Mtila for their hard work and the support of the employees.
“Thank you for caring and for the professional and courteous way in which you assist our residents who use this facility.”
Several waste-management activities are undertaken at the site:
- Loading and offloading of refuse;
- Storage of waste;
- Chipping of clean green waste;
- Sorting and baling of recyclable material.
The waste is visually inspected before and during offloading to ensure only permitted waste types are accepted. If before or during the offloading, any portion of the load is deemed unacceptable it will be rejected and the transporter will have to remove it from the site.
► Acceptable waste includes:
- Garden waste;
- Domestic (black bag) waste;
- Recyclables from domestic sources;
- Source-separated uncontaminated recyclable materials such as the cardboard from businesses;
- Domestic e-waste;
- Domestic construction and demolition waste up to a maximum of one bakkie load per person per day;
- Domestic hazardous waste such as used oil, batteries, and fluorescent light bulbs.
► Waste not accepted includes:
- Hazardous waste other than used oil, batteries, and fluorescent light bulbs;
- Abattoir waste;
- Bulk loads of garden waste from contractors – this will be diverted to the Louis Fourie Road landfill site;
- Contractors with more than one bakkie load full of construction and demolition waste will be diverted to the Great Brak River landfill site.