G2G GreenCape – Waste project

The Green Cape Initiative (Green Cape) is a sector development agency established by the Western Cape Provincial government and the City of Cape Town in 2010. Green Cape was established to unlock the manufacturing and employment potential in the green economy in the Western Cape. Through partnerships with WESGRO, provincial government and academia Green Cape provides a platform to build a competitive business infrastructure in the Western Cape. Waste management has been defined as one of their focus areas given firstly the challenges faced by many municipalities, particularly with decision making for waste management, and secondly the potential resource value associated with waste. Green Cape requested technical assistance from the Netherlands government for:

1. Technical mentorship for the steering group of the Green Cape Waste Economy Project.
2. Attendance and presentations of experts from the Netherlands at project related workshops.
3. Training of municipal managers in waste management planning.
4. Study visits to the Netherlands for researchers and government officials.

Through Green Cape’s engagement with industry, academia and local authorities in the waste-to-energy working group, it has become evident that local authorities require more support in the waste management arena. A given example is the problem that waste officials often feel overwhelmed by the information received from the private sector about different technologies presented, and do not necessarily have the skills to assess suitability, costs and risks attached.

The Waste Economy project has been developed to support the development of the waste economy in the province and to support smaller municipalities in the Western Cape planning to upgrade their waste management facilities, and/or integrate waste-to-energy technologies.

Rijkswaterstaat has been commissioned to carry out this project.