National Recycling Day is on the 17th of September 2021. South Africans are familiar with the need to recycle their waste.  The benefits of recycling do not just focus on the fact that waste does not go to a landfill, it also creates jobs which...

Introduction   The draft National Mine Closure strategy 2021 was recently published for comment, comments had to be submitted to the DMRE by 23rd July 2021. The draft strategy highlighted the adverse impacts of mining, more so the irreversible environmental degradation and economic hardship when a...

Although South Africa is still enduring the challenges associated with the Covid 19 Coronavirus pandemic and the unpredictability of the various imposed lockdowns, more employees are reporting back to their workplaces as opposed to working from their homes.   This brings with it the reminder that when...

The Minister of Employment and Labour recently published a notice of his intention to present the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Bill, 2020 to the National Assembly.   The bill seeks to amend the OHS Act, 1993 (Act 85 of 1993) and align it to international trends....

In South Africa, we generally deal with three main types of environmental audits in the industry. These are compliance, functional and management audits.   Environmental Compliance Audits   Environmental compliance audits, focus on determining compliance to a specific and defined checklist.   Compliance audits assess and verify aspects related to or...

The world has found itself in a unique situation. It’s been over twelve months since our president has placed restrictions on human interaction. Many professionals have been tasked with operating in unique working environments and having to adapt to new operating models to sustain their...

An exotic animal is mainly considered as an animal that is not indigenous to a particular country, however, when referring to pets, the term exotic refers to an animal that is considered unusual. The average South African household comprises of common pets such as cats...

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs (DFFE) define Alien Invasive Plant species (AIPs) as plant species that are exotic, non-indigenous or non-native to an ecosystem that are either purposefully or accidentally brought into a country through anthropogenic means. Due to the absence of...

South Africa as a developing country relies on evolving mining, industrial and fossil fuel power generation activities where ever-increasing expansions produce strain and air pollution impacts on general and high-priority areas. The National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (Act 39 of 2004) (NEM: AQA) forms...

Environmental noise is subjective as it is based on people’s perceptions of specific sounds. Environmental noise is defined as any unwanted sound created by human interaction with the natural environment. Environmental noise typically refers to noise associated with an outdoor sound produced by industry, various...