‘Waste’ means—

(a)        any substance, material or object, that is unwanted, rejected, abandoned, discarded or disposed of, or that is intended or required to be discarded or disposed of, by the holder of that substance, material or object, whether or not such substance, material or object can be re-used, recycled or recovered and includes all wastes as defined in Schedule 3 to this Act; or

(b)        any other substance, material or object that is not included in Schedule 3 that may be defined as a waste by the Minister by notice in the Gazette, but any waste or portion of waste, referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), ceases to be a waste—

(i)         once an application for its re-use, recycling or recovery has been approved or, after such approval, once it is, or has been re-used, recycled or recovered;

(ii)         where approval is not required, once a waste is, or has been re-used, recycled or recovered;

(iii)        where the Minister has, in terms of section 74, exempted any waste or a portion of waste generated by a particular process from the definition of waste; or

(iv)        where the Minister has, in the prescribed manner, excluded any waste stream or a portion of a waste stream from the definition of waste.

Sources of Waste

Different types of waste may be generated from a variety of sources such as: Residential, Industrial, Commercial, Institutional, Construction and demolition, Municipal services, Process (manufacturing, etc.) and Agricultural activities.

Depending on the classification conducted in terms of the National Waste Classification and Management Regulations, Waste may either be classified as General or Hazardous