Determining the perceived benefits of waste management licensing from a regulator’s perspective

Abstract

Waste Management Licensing (WML) is one of the environmental management policy instruments provided for in the National Environmental Management Waste Act (59 of 2008), as well as the National Waste Management Strategy. The WML application process is sometimes viewed as an obstacle, due to the perceived lengthy and bureaucratic nature of environmental impact assessment (EIA) process supporting the application. The value of the environmental assessment instruments has been scrutinized by different role players, leading to the desire to understand the benefits of undertaking these processes. Some recent research has been conducted by Roos et al. (2020) on the benefits of EIA for society and Cilliers et al. (2020) for government, both focusing on the perceptions of regulators within the South African context. However, no research has been done to understand the perceived benefits of waste management licensing, specifically, for society. The aim of this research is to determine the potential and realized benefits of waste management licensing for society as perceived by regulators. A semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to 62 provincial officials responsible for reviewing WML applications. They were requested to reflect on (i) the potential benefits of WML for society, (ii) the actual, realized benefits of WML for society, and (iii) means of bridging the gap between actual and potential benefits. Responses were received from 21 respondents, representing all nine provinces in South Africa. Reported benefits were discussed in accordance with the National Framework for Sustainable Development (NFSD); and top perceived potential and actual benefits were ranked according to their frequency of mention. The potential and actual benefits of WML for society as perceived by regulators leaned towards encouraging development that does not compromise ecosystem services, as well as exercising the constitutional right to a safe environment. Participants included climate change and health impact mitigation as additional potential benefits of WML (which was not included in this research). Improving education and awareness and an inclusive waste management licensing process were suggested as means of closing the gap between potential and actual benefits of WML for society.