The Atteridgeville Recycling Park is the first multi-waste stream recycling facility developed via a public-private partnership in South Africa.

The Atteridgeville Recycling Park (ARP) is being developed on public land in Tshwane with private financing through a novel “build, operate, and transfer” agreement. The concessionaire – New GX Enviro – will operate the facility for 15 years, before ownership of the waste management facility reverts to the city at no cost. Two phases of the ARP have been completed so far, the material recovery facility, and the garden waste composting facility. These represent $5.2 million of a planned $16.4 million investment. The next phases are a municipal waste screening facility, which will separate organic and inorganic waste, and a construction and demolition waste disposal facility.

75% of waste in Tshwane will be diverted from landfill once a second recycling park is completed next year

Cities100 – 2017

The facility will serve 300,000 households in the surrounding regions and divert waste from landfill. It is also creating permanent jobs for the people of Atteridgeville, a historically disadvantaged area.

The challenge

More than 10 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions come from Tshwane’s current landfilling practices annually. The city is rapidly running out of landfill space, and it does not have the required capital to develop recycling infrastructure. Private sector funding has offered a solution to develop advanced recycling centers.

Co-benefits

Economic For the city, the economic benefit of the public-private financing model is that the waste management facility has been constructed without significant outlay of public funds, whilst the private operator is providing much-needed employment.

Environmental The recycling park will divert a significant portion of garden and recyclable waste in Tshwane from landfills, with consequent savings in greenhouse gas emissions. Since being launched in November 2016, more than 10 tons of garden waste has been composted.

Social A key social benefit is the provision of more than 70 jobs to residents of Atteridgeville who live in close proximity to the facility so they are gainfully employed and can avoid expensive work-related transport costs.

About Lakewood

The City of Lakewood is a Home Rule Municipality which is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Lakewood is the fifth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 172nd most populous city in the United States. The city population was 142,980 at the 2010 United States Census. Lakewood is west of Denver and is part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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