Draft National Environmental Waste Management Bill

Zero Waste Gaps &Opportunities Missed

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee21 November

Submission Number F

Mark WellsGaia Cooperative

mark@gaiacooperative.com0835006276

Gaiacooperative promotes the adoption of a full cost accounting economy

A Full cost accounted product is one where the ecological, and social costs are disclosed as well as the financial cost.

The main tool to used to achieve a full cost accounted economy is the use of product life cycle assessments (LCA) of the entire lifecycle of the product from cradle (extraction) to the grave (disposal).

An LCA (or full product life cycle assessment)

includes all social,

environmental and health risks and impacts

during the life of a product from:

the raw materials extraction such as mining or agriculture,to

the transport and storage of the raw materialsto

the manufacturing processto

the distribution and warehousing processesto

the sales and marketing processesto

the use of the product by the end user/s or consumer/sto

the 'ultimate' disposal or recycling of the product

Conventional Economy (Linear)

Zero Waste Economy (Cyclical)

Life Cycle Assessment Insights

Source: Matthews, E., Amann, C., Bringezu, S., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Huttler, W., Kleijn, R., Moriguchi, Y., Ottke,C., Rodenburg, E., Rogich, D., Schandl, H., Schutz, H., van der Voet, E., Weisz, H., 200. The Weight of Nations. Washington,

DC: World Resources Institute.

One half to three quarters of annual One half to three quarters of annual resource inputs to industrial resource inputs to industrial economies are returned to the economies are returned to the environment as wastes within a yearenvironment as wastes within a year..

Supporting Legislation for LCAs

Creating awareness on these environmental and social externalities results in a cradle to cradle approach that is the key component of a zero waste economy.

Without legislation to LCAs we will never achieve the goal of a zero waste economy by 2022 as per the Polokwane Declaration of 2001 made by Government, Industry and Civil Society

Extensive representations from civil society to have full cost accounting included into the Nation Framework for Sustainable Development but these were by and large ignored.

Similar representations for full cost accounting and full life cycle assessment to be included in the waste bill has led to the inclusion of LCAs as an exception only specific products at the ministers discretion.

Waste Legislation GapMarginalisation of LCAs allows major waste stream such as Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals to continue unchecked and unabated.

What are Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals:Chemicals (or mixtures) from outside the body that can interfere with the development or functioning of body systems in humans, wildlife, and especially their offspring, and may lead to irreversible adverse health effects.*

* This definition was taken from a EDEC report that was distributed in 2005 by the Third World Investment Gateway to the Presidency and all respective and ministries, namely: the

Dept of Health, Agriculture, Industry, Environment & Water Affairs.

During the last century over 70000 new manmade chemicals were synthesised and for product manufacture. Over 1,500 new chemicals are introduced each year.

No health and environmental data for 71% of the most widely used chemicals (US) and less than 10% of new chemicals have adequate test data on health effects

The recent science of endocrine disruption reveals many of these chemicals and their metabolites:

– are persistent (not easily broken down in nature)– bioaccumulate within the food chain– affect our delicate hormone system

Extremely low level exposure of these synthetic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), in concentrations as low as parts per billion (less than one drop in 25 olympic-size swimming pools) can lead to diseases such as:

• cancers (including trans-generational cancers) • immune system suppression • birth defects • impact sexual, cognitive & physical development • numerous other diseases such as asthma and endometriosis

Taken from conclusions of the Wingspread and Yokohama Conventions

Some Known Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals• Plastics such as PVC and certain cling-wraps, polystyrene, including clear polystyrene release EDCs as

emissions during the manufacture and moulding processes, as plasticisers leaching out of the plastic over time and as dioxins if burnt

• Clear rigid polycarbonate plastic leaches out the known hormone disruptor bisphenol A (BPA). Products containing BPA include adhesives, pipes, thermal fax paper, car dashboards and electronic goods, the linings of food cans and in baby feeding bottles!

• Synthetically pharmaceutical hormones such as the contraceptive pill, HRT and treatments for hormone-responsive cancers may also be detected in sewage effluent. Synthetic hormones are now also found in meat. Cattle are given bovine growth hormones or D.E.S. (diethol stilbestrol) to fatten them. Chickens are also fed hormones to promote growth.

• Agro-chemicals: EDCs also exist in other pesticides in use such as dieldrin, toxaphene, mirex, heptachlor and kepone as well as many other herbicides and fungicides.

• Wood preservatives such as Pentachlorophenol (PCP)• Ingredients in ordinary household products like paints, inks, deodorants, toiletries & cleaning agents• PVC-based insulation on electricity cable and other forms of heat-resistant plastic• Waste from pulp and paper mills• Waste from iron ore sintering plants• Dioxin emissions from hospital incinerators, municipal incinerators, low temperature burning of plastic

waste at dump sites, backyard rural and urban burning of waste• Emission of benzene and generation of poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other possible dioxins in

petrol based car exhaust fumes • Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), now banned under the Stockholm convention, but still found in many

existing electronic devices and power transformers.• Fire-retardants such as polybrominated diethyl ethers (PBDEs), used in many household items such as bed

mattresses, duvets, sofas, carpets, etc.• Accidental chemical spills and fires, especially in plastic manufacturing plants and warehouses as well as

from trucks transporting chemicals. • Trihalomethane (THM), a by-product of chlorinated water sterilisation that is formed when chlorine reacts

with organic matter in the water. • There are many chemicals that are yet to be tested. Anticipated to be well over the 560 known EDCs.

What is this?

Economic benefits of a zero waste approach to EDCs

• The creation of jobs in research and development of safe alternative products and technologies.

• The creation of new jobs in the manufacturing sector required for the production of EDC-free products and materials.

• The reduction in foreign expenditure linked to the importation of toxic EDC containing chemicals and materials into the country.

• The creation of new jobs in the farming sectors to support the manufacture of EDC-free plant fibre based bio-plastic alternatives and clean biofuels such as biomethane and biodiesel from algae.

• Exports of manufactured EDC-free products and materials to markets concerned with health and environment protection.

• Exports of agricultural products to markets concerned with food safety.• Patent profits from EDC-free alternatives developed in South Africa.• The cost savings on cost of health care relating to EDC related diseases.• Benefits related to an increase in society’s average IQ as a result of not

disrupting the cognitive development of children.

Agricultural Waste

• Conventional agriculture is dependent on fossil fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.

• All these inputs have externalities.• Major externality of pesticide usage waste

pollution of the atmosphere, watercourses and food escapes legislation*

Based on all legislation assessed in the South African Africa Stockpiles Programme, Pesticide Management Assessment, Harold van der Valk, July

2007, Draft Report

Pesticide waste is an issue• Dr Johan Minnaar produced evidence of serious illnesses and

disorders among his  patients in Groblerdal, where commercial farmers are spraying large amounts of  agrochemicals on crops. Sympoms included breasts on a five year old girl, teenage  boys temporarily "growing breasts" during spraying seasons, miscarriages, partial facial  paralysis, cancers and ear malfunctions. Milder poisoning symptoms, included asthma,  sinusitis, headaches, dizziness and depression.

• Professor Leslie London of the University  of Cape Town states "premature puberty and other hormonal abnormalities are  symptoms of contamination by pesticides containing endocrine disruptors….. I think there is a view that if you choose to live in the country, you should accept  this as a way of life. " 

Pesticide Waste and Water Pollution

• Most towns in the Western Cape have their groundwater contaminated and many towns have their drinking water contaminated with unsafe levels of pesticides.

• Similar studies in the Eastern cape show that major drinking water reserves are contaminated above safe levels with pesticides

• The problem of EDC pollution of water does not extend to only pesticides but other industrial endocrine disrupting chemicals. Recent studies show that the city water in Pretoria is contaminated with above safe levels of phthalates.

Planned Increases in Pesticide Waste EC Biofuels Programme

• 500 000 ha of prime traditional communal land and commonages to be block busted into canola, soya and maize mono-cropping

• Requires use of pesticide including roundup herbicide for roundup ready GM maize and soya.

• Subsidised by Government under the Massive Food Production Programme

• Earnings per hectare R3500 (if it rains)

LCA of Roundup Herbicide used in EC Biofuels Programme

• Roundup contains toxic endocrine disrupting glyphosate and surfactants

• Roundup herbicide destroys soil life• Roundup persists in soil for up to two years• Roundup contaminates watercourses• Roundup is systemically absorbed into the fruits and grains• No amount of washing and cooking can eliminate toxic

roundup ingredients from the contaminated food (WHO Report)

• Empty Roundup containers are used for water storage by rural communities

The Zero Waste Alternative

Zero Waste Agriculture: Is the optimal use of nature, in the form of plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and algae, to produce biodiverse-food, energy and nutrients in a synergistic integrated cycle of profit making processes where the waste of each process becomes the feedstock for another process.

Decentralised zero waste biogas system

with chlorella algae

oxidation

Ponds at 3 blocks of apartments,

Dongguan, China

Consists of:

digesters,

settling tanks,

oxidation basins,

small fish pond,

aquatic plants,

and plants.

Aquaponics on nutrient rich organic fertilizer

Trees were Irrigated and Fertilized by

nutrient rich water after the algal ponds show quick growth

and early fruit bearing.

Daily irrigation with nutrient pond water

produces more growth than

chemical fertilizer applied twice a year.

Traditional farmers can utilise their kraal waste to produce produce energy, feed, fertilizer

and enhance food production

The biogas digester are easy to build using a polyethylene tube version of the 1957 South African ‘plug-and-flow’ invention. The total cost for the digester including the gas line and labour was less than R3000. The digester produces 2300m3 of biogas per year from the kraal waste. This is the energy equivalent of 918 kgs of LPG gas or 1322 litres of petrol.

ZERO WASTE ORGANIC AGRICULTURE POTENTIAL

• Zero Waste farmers use bacteria, algae and fungi to convert plant and animal waste into food, feed, fertilizer and fuel, generating over R36,000 per ha/year

• If less than 50% of our arable land was converted to zero waste agriculture it is possible that small family farmers can produce all of South Africa’s energy needs in electricity and liquid fuel from ethanol, biogas and biodiesel processed by local cooperatives.

• Traditional African farmers already have most of the infrastructure requirement for zero waste farming as 70% of rural households in the former homelands – have kraaled animals. – are located near to springs and rivers for access to water. – have kraals located above the fields and gardens which allows for

gravity feed of the liquid fertilizer system.

BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY BACKGROUND

• The biogas digester is a 3000 year old technology

• There are over 15 million biogas digesters in operation worldwide

• There are over 5 million flexi-fuel vehicles in the world that can run on biogas

• Germany: 2700 large biogas power plants with an installed wattage of 650 megawatts (MW).

• USA: 9000 MW installed electrical power from biomasses (equivalent to 9 nuclear plants). In the US biogas produces electrical energy at 0,05 USD/kWh. (Nuclear plants produce electricity for 0,13 USD/kWh.)

• Sweden: 800 biogas buses, more than 4500 cars that run on a mixture of petrol and either biogas or natural gas, and 55 biogas filling stations.

Low Cost Poly EthyleneTube

Digester

Plug and Flow Digester Design is

aSA invention 1957

Over 100,000 worldwide

Large Scale Poly Ethylene

Digester

Four household underground

dome digester,Lynedoch,

Stellenbosch

The worlds first biogas train, Sweden

Biogas powered vehicles, Sweden

Rural Biogas digester benefits• Indoor Pollution and related respiratory

diseases from reduction of wood

• Safety from fires from paraffin stoves

• Eliminates harmful diseases pathogens in the fermentation processes (eg. typhoid, paratyphoid, cholera and dysentery bacteria, hookworms and bilharzias parasites.

Biodiesel From Micro Algae

Biodiesel from Chlorella Microalgae

Chlorella microalgae is a tried and tested oxidation method for the treatment of effluent from both large and small scale biogas digesters.

It was pioneered by Golueke and Oswald in 1970’s and it continues to be implemented successfully on a global scale by Professor George Chan from the Zero Emission Research and Initiatives (ZERI) organisation.

Chlorella contains between 14 and 22% oil which is suitable for biodiesel

Chlorella is unicellular and grows prolifically doubling its biomass weight in a few hours of sunlight

BIOFUEL CROP ANNUAL OIL YIELD COMPARATIVE TABLE

Crop kg oil/ha litres oil/ha

corn (maize) 145 172

cotton 273 325

hemp 305 363

soybean 375 446

linseed (flax) 402 478

sunflowers 800 952

Rapeseed / Canola 1000 1190

olives 1019 1212

jojoba 1528 1818

jatropha 1590 1892

macadamia nuts 1887 2246

avocado 2217 2638

oil palm 5000 5950

chlorella microalgae 42048 50037

other nonnutritive algae 75600 90000

World map indicating the Direct Normal Solar Irradiation. The yellow and red regions are excellent locations for Algal production.

Algae harvesting on a 1 ha zero waste farm

Integrated biogas algae and aquaculture

High Rate Algal Ponds

Fish farming and Aquaponics

Other Value Added ProductsEg. Mushroom & Earthworm Vermiculture) Cultures• Sludge is removed from waste stream

and deposited in settling tank. • It is then taken from settling tanks

and heated with a biogas power boiler to generate a hemophilic action killing (55 degrees C) pathogens.

• It can then be used as a substrate for mushroom cultivation. Crop residues from fish pond are also added.

• Then the mushrooms are removed and the substrate is then mixed with worms to further process the sludge converting it into compost.

Sludge after it is collected from settling tanks is put in the above tanks and sanitized with biogas from the digester.

Mushrooms nearly ready for harvest!

ZWA and the typical rural householdThe Kraal waste from a typical rural household in Tsomo with 5ha land and 5 cattle, 6 sheep, 7 goats and 2 pigs can produce the following each year:  

Food (not including animal products):

Organic vegetables from ¼ ha garden                                      R 52 000

Sorghum from 1 ha field                                   3000kg     R 24 000

Tilapia fillets                                                     300kgs           R   3 800

Dry oyster or shitake mushrooms                                               R 35 000

Bio Fuels:

Biogas energy (LPG Equivalent) :                      927kgs             R 11 500

Biodiesel from algae                                         966 litres           R   4 800

Ethanol from sorghum stalks solar or biogas 3000 litres          R 15 000

Other by products:

High protein feed from algae (dry)                    5000kg              R   7 500

Organic NPK rich fertilizer                                 1000kg             R   3 000

Biogas brewed traditional sorghum beer          6000 litres         R 30 000

Total Potential Wealth Generated Each Year                       R 182 600

ZWA vs Conventional BiofuelsThe draft biofuels strategy proposes that 4.5% blend of biofuels in road transport fuel by 2013. The table below outlines the impacts of the different approaches to achieve this target.

Category Conventional biofuels Zero waste BEAT biofuels

Jobs Creation 50,000 mainly low paid 550,000 self employed

Land Use 1.3 to 3 million ha 900 000 ha

Type Large scale monoculture Small family owned biodiverse farms

Fuel Crop Oil seeds and grains Biogas, Algae, Sorghum stalks

Food Security Competes with food Production Byproduct of food production

Water Security Requires more water Requires less water

Pollution & HealthR3bn/year pesticide & fertilizer

damageMinimal emissions

Cultural compatibilityCompetes with traditional African

farming practicesCompliments traditional African

farming practices

“Second Economy interventions (are) centred on the challenge of realising the value of dead assets – land, houses, livestock, skills, indigenous knowledge and other assets that have intrinsic value not currently realised”. ASGISA Summary

“70% of the impoverished rural communities in the former homelands have animals other than chickens” – Stats SA

ZWA Alignment with ASGISA

The Need for Zero Waste Agrarian Reform

1) Rural Access to Energy:• 46% percent of rural households were without access to

electricity in 2003 and thirty five percent of households were using either paraffin or wood for cooking in 2004 (StatsSA, 2005)

• The use of low quality fuels and/or technologies for indoor combustion by many in South Africa, as in many other countries in the developing world is the cause of a significant health burden such as upper respiratory illness.

• Access to clean and convenient energy services are vital to the alleviation of poverty.

2) Access to Sanitation:

• 35 percent of rural households in South Africa have no access to adequate sanitation

• This lack of adequate sanitation carries with it direct health risksfor those without the access, as well as environmental risks including, for example, pollution of fresh water sources.

3) Water Security:• ZWA farming is effective water storage as water is recycled. • The only losses are animal consumption, terrestrial irrigation and pond

evaporation

• Each hectare of ZWA farming requires 500m2 of micro algae

• Water evaporation per litre of biodiesel from ZWA algae ponds is 10 x less than water evaporation per litre of conventional biodiesel

4) Inequitable distribution of land: Conventional commercial farming requires massive tracts of land for monoculture owned by previously advantaged farmers

5) Exploitation of labour: Conventional agriculture pays the lowest wages and practices evictions

6) Pollution: Monoculture requires the liberal use of pesticides that contaminated soil, water, air and most alarmingly, the food that we eat.

7) Economic marginalisation of farmers: Monoculture makes farmers dependent on input costs for fertilizers feeds and chemicals and on bulk distribution of harvests by corporations…. Zero waste agriculture can counter the negative effects of blockbusting of traditional farm land under the massive food production programme

Zero waste agrarian reform & land redistribution

The conversion of 41 million ha of land for redistribution by 2014 into 5 ha ZWA farms with cooperative based produce distribution will result in:

17900 million kg of LPG equivalent biomethane (equivalent to 31,400 million litres of petrol) which can be used to :Provide 100% of SA vehicle fuel needs in methane gas, or150 000 GWh of electricity per year* (72% of Eskom’s sales)

18 700 million litres of biodiesel from microalgae (more than SA total vehicle fuel needs translated into biodiesel)

16 million litres of ethanol from sorghum waste * Using methane fuel cells from all biogas produced

Zero waste agrarian reform continued:

8 million families with land stewardship16 million jobs in zero waste agriculture on small family owned

farms1million jobs in cooperative distribution direct to consumersbiodiverse ‘organic’ food security20 billion tons of natural nutrient rich fertilizers (R57 billion)water security through chemical free recyclingecological sanitation

ZERO WASTE AND THE ORGANIC GREEN

REVOLUTION

• Globally estimated 31 million hectares of certified organic crops increasing at a rate of between 19-39% per year.

• Global sales in organic products are estimated to be between USD 20 and USD 30 billion annually 2005.

• The exceptional growth of 25-35% is set to continue with announcements form Wal-Mart (October 2006), the worlds biggest retailing chain that they intend to go organic

Zero Waste Organic Agriculture Benefits

Less Input Costs – no synthetic pesticides, fertilizers. – OPV seed saved and replanted

Economic Value and Profit– Organic farming produce 3 to 10 x the earning per hectare than

monoculture[1]– 2-3 times more productive than per hectare than conventional farming

[2]

Access to the fastest growing market– Fair Trade and Organic Market growth is over 35% – Conventional food market growth is 2%

[1] 'Can Organic Farming "Feed the World"?' Christos Vasilikiotis, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley[2] ‘Organic farming yields as good or better”, University of Michigan's school of Natural Resources and

Environment, Perfecto et al, Journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, July 2007

The international fair trade market has grown by up to 72% per year since 1998

Fair trade means organic produce and value added items sourced from family owned farms where farmers are paid a fair price for

their produce.

Poverty Alleviation – Organic farming delivers more jobs[3]

Best Model for emerging farmers.– Over 20 years of agricultural development shows that organic farming

was the most successful model[4]

Food Security– Organic farming requires biodiversity of crops to avoid diseases

– Biodiverse crops provide economic security, not all the eggs are in one basket

[3] DEFRA-commissioned study by the University of Exeter, 2006.

[4] World Bank Press Report 2005.

Zero Waste Organic Agriculture Benefits Continued

Healthier Food– No toxic synthetic pesticide used– No toxic heavy metal contaminated fertilizers– More nutrients in the food

Safer environment – No synthetic pesticide pollution of air, soil and water– No pesticide poisoning of farm workers and children

Biodiversity– Organic farms were found to contain 85% more plant species, 33%

more bats, 17% more spiders and 5% more birds []

[5] DEFRA-commissioned study by the University of Exeter, 2006.

Zero Waste Organic Benefits Continued

Climate Change mitigation– Enhanced soil carbon sequestration[6]

Water Security – Improved drinking water quality

– Decreased irrigation needs

– Better yields in droughts[6]

[6] FAO REPORT, OFS/2007/REP, May 2007

Zero Waste Organic Benefits Continued

FAO REPORT MAY 2007

UN Food and Agricultural Organisation Experts agree that switching to organic farming will achieve food security:

“If 50 percent of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa was converted to organic agriculture would help the region's hungry by reducing the need to import food.

Farmers who go back to organic approved traditional agricultural methods would not have to spend money on expensive chemicals and would grow more diverse and sustainable crops, the report said. and could export any surpluses at premium prices.”

OFS/2007/REP

DEBUNKING THE CONVENTIONAL GREEN REVOLUTION MYTH

The University of Michigan's July 2007 Study

Looked at 293 published studies on yields from organic farming.

"We were struck by how much food the organic farmers would produce…. Two to three times per hectare more than conventional food production.

Corporate interest in agriculture and the way agriculture research has been conducted in land grant institutions, with a lot of influence by the chemical companies and pesticide companies as well as fertilizer companies, all have been playing an important role in convincing the public that you need to have these inputs to produce food,"

Professor Ivette Perfecto

‘Organic farming yields as good or better”, University of Michigan's school of Natural Resources and Environment, Perfecto et al, Journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, July 2007

THE CUBAN MODEL

• CUBA Achieves food sovereignty

• 80% of food production is organic

• Achieved this in less than 10 years

Example of community based Zero Waste Agriculture:

The Best Ecological Agricultural (BEAT) Cooperative practicing Zero Waste Agriculture,

Chintsa, EC

For More Information Please Contact Mark Wells

GaiaCooperative

Mobile 0835006276Tel 0437385409Fax 0437400025

mark@gaiacooperative.com

Thank you!