en.Wedoany.com Reported - With municipal solid waste landfill space in South Africa's Gauteng Province nearing depletion, waste management company Tonkmeter has partnered with two producer responsibility organizations (PROs)—Petco and MetPac-SA—to build the Tonkmeter Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at a private landfill site in Springs, in the province. Provincial waste management official Palesa Mathibeli stated at the facility's inauguration ceremony that municipal landfills in Gauteng are approaching the end of their operational lifespan, with some closed due to non-compliance, and insufficient diversion of waste from landfills is placing immense pressure on existing facilities. Mathibeli said it is encouraging to see private partners proactively joining forces to address this waste management crisis.
Petco noted that after gaining support from fellow PRO MetPac-SA for the new facility, it made a significant infrastructure investment in Springs. The two PROs stated that once fully operational, the MRF can divert and process up to 600 metric tons of recyclable materials per month. Tonkmeter CEO Leon Grobbelaar explained that the landfill receives approximately 5,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste containing recyclables each month, and the MRF aims to extract at least 50 metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, metal, and cardboard packaging from this waste.
Grobbelaar said some waste and recycling companies have already delivered baled materials directly to the MRF, which further separates and sorts these materials, with the remaining non-recyclable waste sent to the on-site landfill. Future plans include accepting materials from independent waste pickers working at the nearby Rietfontein municipal landfill. Grobbelaar noted that the project has created job opportunities in the KwaThema community and removed waste from the environment.
Petco Recycling and Collection General Manager Samu Mkhize pointed out that the project is an example of collaboration among parties to keep the circular economy running. Mkhize said the Tonkmeter MRF achieves on-site integration of landfill diversion and recycling infrastructure, bringing industrial, commercial, and informal material streams into a unified operational model. The MRF uses a cashless payment platform, enabling Petco to pay waste pickers for their collected PET and cardboard packaging as part of Petco's extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations. Mkhize stated that the Tonkmeter MRF represents Petco's largest single infrastructure investment to date, demonstrating its commitment to high-value capital projects such as sorting and conveying systems, balers, and forklifts. She added that she hopes to carry out such large-scale projects with partners like MetPac-SA in the future, achieving shared outcomes and demonstrating measurable progress against legislative expectations.
MetPac-SA CEO Kishan Singh said the facility enhances South Africa's circular economy and waste recycling, aligning with EPR regulations, and MetPac-SA will continue to support such initiatives.
Grobbelaar said the Tonkmeter site was designed from the outset as an integrated waste management facility, and while the MRF is modest in scale, it will become the project's core highlight.
