Aspasa CDE
GreenCape
An elevated view of the loading shovel feeding the C & D waste recycling plant .
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CDE demand for processed builders ’ rubble in the construction industry , with the rising price of virgin material cited as one of the main market drivers .
“ We provide industry insights and support , and we work on reducing legislative barriers and supporting any market developments ,” says Dr Kirsten Barnes , senior waste economy analyst at GreenCape . “ There are a number of angles we ’ re working on with regard to builders ’ rubble . We are particularly targeting builders ’ rubble reuse in road construction , as this is where we see the highest impact in terms of jobs created and material diverted from landfill . While there is funding available to help bring in more high-tech machinery , the industry isn ’ t currently able to support that sort of investment , so we ’ re looking at relatively small operations , often with static crushers and sometimes with added mobile crushers .”
According to Barnes , these smaller operations also tend to have quite a high focus on labour , which is another advantage in a country with very high unemployment . While there are plants and processes in use overseas that allow for the processing of C & D waste with minimal labour , South Africa tends to make use of more labour-intensive processes . “ The kind of labour-intensive quality control processes that are more the norm in South Africa would be great to encourage and to protect , as this will give us higher quality products but with labour absorptive capacity within the industry , which is a really good thing ,” says Barnes .
However , more advanced operations can also ensure a safer working environment
Feed material being loaded into the R2500 primary screening unit at the CANDY Project ’ s recycling facility in Germany .
and better quality work , as well as creating opportunities for higher-level jobs .
On-site crushing of C & D waste using mobile crushing and screening equipment is particularly popular in Cape Town because of high transport costs , costs for mixed loads of C & D waste and long turnaround times for trucks disposing of the material . According to the GreenCape industry brief , the current crushing capacity in the City of Cape Town alone is over 52 000m 3 per month ( and is expected to increase by an additional 40 000m 3 per month over the next few years ), based on a survey of five major crushers . The industry currently provides 9.7 jobs per 1 000m 3 processed , with crushers producing high-quality products averaging up to 30 jobs per 1 000m 3 .
Driving the market
There is no particular industry body that governs and oversees the handling , treatment and disposal of builders ’ rubble . GreenCape ’ s industry brief identifies rising virgin material prices , material transportation cost , regulation of waste flows and increasing disposal costs due to limited landfill airspace as current drivers of the builders ’ rubble economy .
Barnes says that nationally , other than the requirement to reduce waste to landfill , which is included in the National Environmental Management : Waste Act ( Act 59 of 2008 ), there ’ s no strict legislative bans or diversion targets related to C & D waste . “ However ,” she adds , “ we expect that to change , because both the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government ( Department of Environmental Affairs and
Robyn Grimsley
1 . Nico Pienaar , director of the Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa ( Aspasa ).
2 . Dr Kirsten Barnes is a senior waste economy analyst at GreenCape , a non-profit organisation established in 2010 by the Western Cape Government to support the development of the green economy in the region .
3 . Nicolan Govender is the regional manager for sub-Saharan Africa of global wet processing equipment company CDE .
24 _ QUARRY SA | MAY 2017