Pikitup responds as Bryanston garden refuse site struggles to cope with surge in garden waste
With increased pressure on the Ballyclare garden refuse site in Bryanston, Pikitup outlines operational limits, waste removal plans, and measures to address illegal dumping.
Pikitup says it has implemented several contingency measures to manage increased waste volumes in the north of Johannesburg, following the temporary closure of the Pikitup Woodmead garden refuse site for renovations.
This is in response to concerns raised by Ward 103 councillor Lynda Shackelford about the Ballyclare garden refuse site in Bryanston, currently struggling to cope with the growing waste volumes following a temporary closure of the Woodmead site.
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Pikitup spokesperson Anthony Selepe said the utility had communicated the closure of the Woodmead site, directing residents to nearby facilities, including the Ballyclare garden site in Bryanston and the Linbro Park garden site located in Linbro Park landfill. Selepe said, to manage waste generated at the Woodmead garden site, Pikitup has also positioned a wood chipper that will be used to chip the waste before it is transported for disposal. “However, chipping operations have not yet commenced, as the chipper is currently out of order. Once the chipper has been repaired, chipping operations will begin and the processed green waste will be transported to designated offtake facilities, rather than to landfill sites.”
According to Selepe, the Ballyclare refuse site has a total footprint of 1 240m2, with an operational and storage capacity of 169m2.
He added that the site uses five roll-on/roll-off trucks, with a minimum of three loads per day, and one compactor, which collects two loads per day.
When asked about the increase of operational resources at Bryanston since the Woodmead site closed, Selepe said: “Not at Bryanston, but at Linbro Park garden site. All the skip bins, which were at Woodmead garden site, have been placed as extra containers at Linbro Park garden site.”
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Addressing reports of residents dumping waste outside the facility when it becomes full, Selepe said security risk management will ensure that there’s daily deployment of security official at the garden site.
Responding to Shackelford’s concerns about the occasionally restricted loads, or earlier closures at the Ballyclare facility due to capacity issues, Selepe said the site can only accommodate a certain quantity of waste at a time, which must be removed at intervals to be disposed of. “The key operation issue is to monitor the site to enable disposal of such waste timeously and to ensure that there is no overflow of waste on the surface as the permit condition. Pikitup is engaging with private companies based in the north on possible offtakes of some waste streams.”
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