Roman also revealed that R17bn worth of material was being dumped in landfill sites.
"Waste has both social and economic value, and moving waste up the hierarchy provides opportunities for socioeconomic development, creating new jobs and businesses and reducing reliance on declining natural resources," Roman said.
"Waste is an economic concept. There is an economic loss every time resources are utilised in a way that results in them being discarded as waste.
"If resources can be saved, recovered or used more efficiently, there is a net economic gain."
Austrian delegate and waste management expert Klaus Merzeder said South Africa was 30 years behind in its waste management techniques, adding that the country had no experience in how to turn the sector around.
"South Africa has no waste culture and looks for the quickest way to dispose of waste - and that is into landfill sites.
"For the sake of the future of this country, waste management has to change and it starts with changing the mindset."
Merzeder emphasised that waste needed to be treated as a commodity, rather than as "rubbish", to extract value from it.
As the smallest province, but with the highest population density, Gauteng contributes about 45% of the country's municipal waste - at 59 million tons a year, with the largest percentage of it being disposed of in landfill sites.
Waste management challenges highlighted by the Department of Environmental Affairs included a growing population, which means increased volumes of waste generated and increased complexity of the waste stream.
Source: The Times
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