MINING WASTE
propels a sustainable mining future
Mining waste is a growing environmental challenge, but industry innovations such as circular economy models and waste-derived fuels are driving sustainable solutions, reducing pollution, and boosting economic growth across the sector.
By Justin Bott, CEO at Interwaste
The mining sector produces a significant amount of waste, which has a large impact on the environment and communities across the country. The Zero Waste to Landfill( ZW2L) strategy was adopted by mining giants years ago, with vested interests and operations in South Africa in support of both existing commitments to sustainable development and ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework, namely, the National Environmental Management Act( NEMA, Act 107 of 1998) and the Waste Act, 2008( Act 59 of 2008) – all of which are encouraging.
This saw the mining sector focusing on eliminating unnecessary waste, reducing waste generation and further optimising resource efficiency through sustainable product designs, recovery, reuse and recycling, as well as energy production, by utilising the systematic application of the waste hierarchy. In addition to this, the industry has implemented strategies to minimise and reduce the impact of such operations. The positive results of remediation, such as removing and repurposing dormant mine dumps, for example, are now considered standard for operations.
18 sabusinessintegrator. co. za