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SA’s landfills spew methane at an ‘alarming’ rate, but the solutions are right under our noses

SA’s landfills spew methane at an ‘alarming’ rate, but the solutions are right under our noses
Compliance status of municpal landfill sites in South Africa. (Source: DFFE)
Kristin Engel
By Kristin Engel
16 Apr 2025
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Sixty percent of South Africa’s municipal landfill sites are noncompliant with environmental legislation, with even ‘well-managed’ dumps ranking among the country’s top methane emitters.

It’s no secret that municipal landfills in South Africa are in dire straits, with severe noncompliance as mismanagement and environmental violations have long plagued these sites. But monitoring experts are finding that even “well-managed” sites rank among some of the worst methane polluters. 

This emerges from work by a group of data scientists, engineers and environmental advocates at Panoptica Earth who are working on landfill- and environment-related issues. 

University of Cape Town PhD researcher Paul Stemmet, who is part of the group, has mapped and monitored these sites for years, showing missed opportunities in waste management that could be used to reduce landfill waste and emissions significantly.

Currently, as shared in a parliamentary briefing in March, 60% of 154 monitored municipal landfill sites in South Africa are noncompliant. But according to landfill experts, this report from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) shows the severe undercapacity of the government and municipalities to monitor active landfill sites, since only 154 sites were analysed. There are 826 landfills in South Africa, of which 667 are licensed.

This has far-reaching consequences for environmental degradation, public health, air quality and climate impacts, as well as mounting legal action against noncompliant municipalities.

Read more: South African municipal dumps are a mess, despite threats of court action

There has been much focus on the lack of compliance at landfills, but in terms of solutions to its pollution, not much has been shared or implemented.

Stemmet said Panoptica Earth’s monitoring of landfills shows an urgent need for independent audits and transparency. The research also highlights missed opportunities in waste management, particularly the exclusion of waste pickers in a formal waste-picking industry who could significantly reduce landfill waste and emissions.

Crucial role


Waste pickers, also known as reclaimers, play a crucial role in reducing the volume of waste in South African landfills. They extract recyclables from the waste stream, reducing the amount of waste sent or meant for landfill and covering valuable resources.

By recycling and collecting these materials, waste pickers enable the recycling industry to reuse them and minimise waste, extending landfill lifespans and decreasing the environmental impacts associated with waste disposal.

Ultimately, they collect waste from the streets and landfills to earn an honest living while providing a valuable service to municipalities and the recycling industry.

The government has recognised the importance of waste pickers and implemented initiatives to integrate them into the formal waste management system.

However, according to Lefa Mononga, national chairperson of the South African Waste Pickers Association (Sawpa), said the implementation has been uneven and challenges remain.

Mononga listed some of the barriers to recognition and integration:

  • Lack of recognition as waste pickers are often seen as informal or illegal actors rather than valuable contributors to waste management;

  • Stigma and stereotyping which lead to marginalisation and exclusion;

  • Limited access to resources such as training, equipment and finance; and

  • Working in landfills, they face many risks such as physical hazards, injuries from sharp objects, toxic substances, as well as accidents, falls and becoming trapped in waste.


Mononga believed that formal integration, as called for by Stemmet, could help to address these risks.

He added that waste reclaimers contribute in several ways to lowering the greenhouse gas/methane from landfills by extracting organic materials such as food waste and yard trimmings.

Waste pickers, of whom there are 90,000 in the country, decreased the amount of waste sent to landfills, where it would otherwise decompose and produce methane.

Sawpa has been calling for legislative and policy change to formally integrate waste pickers into municipal and national waste management strategies, and to develop a policy that incorporates waste pickers into waste management plans, providing opportunities for their participation and engagement.

Read more: Waste pickers, South Africa’s unseen labour force, continue to fight for recognition and payment rights

There have been pilot projects between municipalities and waste pickers, including in the eThekwini Municipality, which Mononga said provides support for the reclaimers in the form of a material recovery facility.

He said that by scaling up partnerships like this South Africa could promote sustainable waste management practices to better deal with waste picker integration, landfill pollution and emissions.

Lack of consistency in landfill data


Stemmet explained that they use advanced artificial intelligence and satellite analytics to measure methane and CO₂ emissions from landfills in near real time while also detecting human factors such as informal waste pickers, hoping to make this monitoring easily accessible for all, especially those in close proximity to the sites.

In their research and monitoring they had found that municipalities and governments were missing an opportunity to divert waste through waste pickers from its landfills, by excluding them from the formal waste management process.

“More than 20% to 30% of waste in South Africa doesn’t enter the formal waste stream. Waste pickers already divert as much as 90% of all recycled material in South Africa,” said Stemmet.

This could be taken even further by incorporating waste pickers more fully into the waste management strategies of cities, rather than making them something on the fringes.

Stemmet said South Africa doesn’t have the capital to deploy Western models, but should look at the inspiration of Brazil, India and China to formally incorporate waste pickers.

“Without waste pickers we’d be drowning in waste,” he said.

Stemmet said methane can be measured in how much of it is in the air above the landfill or, more importantly, the speed of its release per hour, known as a plume. 

“Plume detection works by monitoring the worst emissions globally. So, from a landfill management perspective, Cape Town, for example, is complying, but methane release is not something they legislatively need to control. The highest methane release is by our coal-fired power stations. For landfill sites to be featured in this is alarming,” he said.

Using the Vissershok landfill in Cape Town as an example, Stemmet said they release 792kg per hour and 168kg per hour from the site’s two different cells. Super methane emitters or super methane emission events are classed as a rate of 100kg per hour of methane or greater.

landfills Carbon pollution from the Vissershok landfill in the Cape Metro. (Source: Carbon Mapper)



Stemmet said they found that there was no consistency in South African data for landfills, which was part of what Panoptica Earth was trying to rectify. 

“We need more transparency and easily accessible data. Data needs to be released more frequently, and we need more standards. And this needs to be enforced. For instance, we’re struggling to find the permits of every landfill and what they need to comply with,” he said.

“I did three years of research on the instability of that data and how it’s being reported, because data is only as good as where you capture it.”

Problems contributing to the instability included that weighbridges didn’t have electricity to weigh in some of the data on methane, inadequate paper-based systems at many landfills, and that it was not compulsory to report on methane releases. 

“So the only option in the long run is to do satellite and drone independent verification of the data at landfills,” said Stemmet.

This is what Panoptica Earth is trying to do with its research and mapping tools.

“It breaks my heart to drive past [these landfill sites] every day or when I see them, and those plumes of dust when they open up a cell… and the people around it can’t see what’s in those cells,” he added.

Interventions could reduce emissions


A host of changes can be made to reduce methane emissions from landfills. 

Stemmet said these range from better landfill management to more detailed monitoring and availability of this data to the public, instead of municipalities mapping and the government “marking their homework”.

“Their (municipalities’) main strategy at the moment is the diversion of waste from the landfill. The challenge of the Vissershok landfill is that its location is too close to human activity.”

There needed to be an alignment of methane release and regulation with South Africa’s climate commitments. 

Noncompliance at most municipal landfills 


The DFFE’s deputy director-general for chemicals and waste management, Mamogala Musekene – who dealt with the Municipal Landfill Sites Compliance Project during a portfolio oversight briefing in March – revealed that of the 154 operational municipal landfills inspected (those under construction and private sites excluded), 16% (25 sites) were compliant, 24% (37 sites) were partially compliant and 60% (92 sites) were noncompliant with environmental legislation.

This was when the DFFE updated the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries with an overview of waste management and the status of municipal landfill sites’ compliance.

Findings of compliance and noncompliance at municipal landfill sites in South Africa. (Source: DFFE)



Musekene said the main issues they found that led to high levels of noncompliance were that, first, most landfills operated as dumping sites without access control and with insufficient equipment to operate the sites.

“It is critical that access is controlled at landfill sites because the sites have been engineered to accept specific classes of waste streams, and if their access is not controlled there is a risk of waste that is not permitted to be disposed of entering those sites,” she said.

When it came to dealing with noncompliance, Musekene said administrative enforcement action had been taken against 168 landfill sites.

However, municipalities frequently failed to respond to these administrative notices, which meant multiple notices were issued for one site. The department was trying to intervene in other ways, including monitoring through action plans and meeting municipalities.

The compliance status of municipal landfills in South Africa. (Source: DFFE)



Mpumalanga received the highest number of these directives (33), followed by Limpopo (25), Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (22 each). A total of 52 criminal cases have been opened against municipalities for noncompliant landfill sites.

Musekene said eight cases have been concluded through plea bargain agreements in terms of section 105a of the Consumer Protection Act for the following landfills:

  • Maizefield/Aliwal North (Walter Sisulu Local Municipality) in the Eastern Cape;

  • Cradock (Nxuba Ye Themba Local Municipality) in the Eastern Cape;

  • Lydenburg (Thaba Chweu Local Municipality) in Mpumalanga;

  • Standerton (Lekwa Local Municipality) in Mpumalanga;

  • Bethal/Mezinoni, Leslie/Leandra and Kinross (Govan Mbeki Local Municipality) in Mpumalanga; and

  • Odendaalsrus (Matjhabeng Local Municipality) in the Free State.


Musekene added that the department was still battling low levels of waste minimisation in municipalities, which were caused by historic and current poor practices. 

In addition, low priority had been given to environmental compliance, picked up through analysis of budgets, such as the allocation of resources, including funds for operations, equipment (purchase and maintenance) and human resources (staff complement and technical capacity).

Musekene said that historically there is a perception that in the spirit of cooperative governance, municipalities were excused from enforcement action. Also, political instability in councils was affecting enforcement action as well as the quality and management of services provided.

“It is often a complex combination of operational and inadequate management factors that result in noncompliance. We have seen minimal improvement despite interventions.”

Musekene said the Municipal Landfill Sites Compliance Project will continuously monitor the implementation of action plans and prioritise enforcement activities. DM

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