SOLID WASTE REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT

to provide for the sustainable regulation and management of solid waste; general and self-service solid waste services; the incorporation of solid waste management companies and define their statutory functions; the licensing and functions of solid waste service providers, operators and self-service solid waste providers and provide for their functions; the regulation, operation, maintenance and construction of landfills and other disposal facilities; the setting and approval of tariffs for management of solid waste and provision of solid waste services; and matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing.

[24th May, 2019]

Act 20 of 2018,

SI 36 of 2019.

PART I
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Solid Waste Regulation and Management Act.

2. Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

"agricultural waste" means waste generated from agricultural activities, including bird and animal carcasses;

"appropriate authority" means the Minister responsible for, or public body, statutory body or person, having powers or regulatory functions under any other written law or executive instrument over, impacting on, or relating to, local government, socio-economic policies, solid waste, disaster management, water resources management or development, the environment, land management, agriculture, railways, markets and bus stations, public health services, ionising radiation, medicines and drugs, water supply and sanitation, construction, buildings, roads, urban and regional planning, surveys, occupational safety, factories, infrastructure development, manufacturing, commerce, trade, competition and consumer protection, standards, public-private partnerships or aviation;

"authorised officer" means an employee or agent of the Department, a local authority, solid waste management company, an officer of the Zambia Environmental Management Agency or any other officer authorised, in writing, to enforce this Act;

"billing" means the imposition of a tariff for solid waste management or solid waste services, and the word "bill" shall be construed accordingly;

"Board" means a Board of directors of a solid waste management company;

"Civil Service Commission" means the Civil Service Commission established by the Constitution;

"company" has the meaning assigned to the word in the Companies Act, 2017;

"commercial waste" means solid waste generated from commercial or trade activities, including handling, processing, packing, packaging and retailing, but excludes hazardous waste;

"community" means a group of at least 10 urban, peri-urban or village households who receive, as a group, solid waste services from a solid waste service provider or who provide their own solid waste services or management;

"construction waste" means waste generated from a construction or demolition site, but excludes hazardous waste from construction activities;

"consumer" includes a person, institution or organisation—

(a) supplied or applying to be supplied with, or using or receiving, solid waste services; or

(b) liable for payment of a tariff for the supply or use of solid waste services;

"Department" means the department in the Ministry responsible for regulating solid waste under this Act;

"development" means the area in which a gated community, housing estate or similar property is situated or located;

"Director" means the civil servant appointed by the Civil Service Commission as the head of the Department;

"disposal" means the final placement of solid waste in landfills or other disposal facilities, without intention of retrieval, and includes the disposal of raw or intermediary handled inert or otherwise unwanted residues, and the word "dispose" shall be construed accordingly;

"disposal facility" means a prescribed place or facility where solid waste is disposed of;

"domestic waste" means solid waste generated from dwellings, residential areas, municipal areas, streets or drainage, and includes agricultural waste;

"e-waste" means various forms of electric and electronic equipment that has ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfies their original purpose;

"facility" means a structure, system, appurtenance, plant or equipment that is necessary for the provision of solid waste services to a consumer;

"hazardous waste" has the meaning assigned to the word in the Environmental Management Act, 2011;

"healthcare waste" means waste generated from pathological and pharmaceutical activities or matter and other solid waste generated by healthcare establishments, healthcare research facilities and healthcare laboratories, including waste generated in the course of healthcare undertaken in the home, and presents hazardous characteristics as defined in the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal;

"industrial waste" means solid waste generated from manufacturing, fabrication, including construction waste but excludes hazardous waste and waste from mining activities;

"inspector" has the meaning assigned to the word in the Local Government Act, 2019;

"landfill" means a prescribed area that is used for the disposal of solid waste;

"licence" means a licence issued in accordance with this Act;

"licenced solid waste service provider" means a solid waste service provider that holds a licence issued in accordance with section 40;

"local authority" has the meaning assigned to the word in the Constitution;

"member" means a person appointed as a member of the Board of directors of a solid waste management company in accordance with the articles of association of that company;

"occupier" means a person that is in actual occupation of, or responsible for managing, a property or premises;

"owner" means the owner of a property or premise, or a person for the time being receiving the rent in respect of the property or premise;

"permit" means a permit issued under this Act;

"permit holder" means a person that holds a permit issued under section 46;

"premise" includes a passage, building or segment in a tenure including land;

"private body" means an organisation, company, partnership, proprietorship or other person or institution which is not a public body, and includes a research and training institution, non-governmental organisation or development partner;

"public body" has the meaning assigned to the word in the Public Finance Management Act, 2018;

"recycle" means to separate and process material from solid waste for further use as a new product or resource;

"registered operator" means a person that holds a permit to construct, operate, manage or maintain a landfill or other disposal facility, in accordance with section 47;

"re-use" means to use articles from the solid waste stream for a similar or different purpose without changing the form or properties of the articles;

"self-service solid waste provider" means a licenced solid waste service provider that provides one or more components of solid waste services;

"service level agreement" means an agreement entered into between a local authority or solid waste management company and a licenced solid waste service provider or registered operator in accordance with section 63;

"service level guarantee" means the minimum service level guarantee issued by a Board to a solid waste management company in accordance with section 12;

"service zone" means the area in which a local authority or licenced solid waste service provider provides solid waste services;

"solid waste" means garbage, domestic waste, municipal waste, household refuse, junk, agriculture waste, healthcare waste, construction waste, commercial waste or industrial waste, but does not include hazardous waste or human waste, that is not in the form of treated sludge or other form intended for final disposal as waste;

"solid waste management" means a direction, measure, strategy, an administrative, a supervisory or an operational activity used for the management or control of solid waste;

"solid waste management area" means the area in which a local authority or solid waste management company provides solid waste management services;

"solid waste management company" means a company incorporated, under the Companies Act, 2017, by a local authority in accordance with section 9;

"solid waste services" means the handling, collection, transportation, recycling, disposal or treatment of solid waste, and includes the prevention, reduction, re-use, recovery or composting of solid waste or generation of energy, in accordance with this Act or any other written law;

"solid waste service provider" means a person that provides solid waste services, or any component of solid waste services;

"tariff" includes fees, charges and levies;

"waste generator" means a person that generates solid waste or is in possession or control of solid waste; and

"Zambia Environmental Management Agency" means the Agency established in accordance with the Environmental Management Act, 2011.

3. Application

This Act does not apply to hazardous waste, e-waste and healthcare waste or waste regulated under the Environmental Management Act, 2011.

4. Relations and co-operation with appropriate authorities

(1) The Ministry shall, for purposes of solid waste management and regulation, collaborate with appropriate authorities and may, for such purposes—

(a) have joint programmes, plans, strategies and policies, taking into account the socio-economic policies of the Government; and

(b) enter into memoranda of understanding.

(2) A local authority, solid waste management company, licenced solid waste service provider, registered operator and self-service solid waste provider shall abide by the regulatory standards and directions relating to the environment, construction, land use, aviation, radiation control, water resources management and development, disaster management and protection of public health, as specified in this Act or any other written law.

(3) An appropriate authority shall consult with the Department when setting standards, or granting a licence, permit or other authorisation for an activity that may have an impact on solid waste regulation and management.

(4) The Department may, after consultation with an appropriate authority under sub-section (3), attach conditions for the carrying out of an activity that are necessary for the sound management of solid waste in accordance with this Act or any other written law.

5. Key concepts and principles of solid waste management and regulation

The following key concepts and principles apply to the management and regulation of solid waste—

(a) solid waste is a resource;

(b) promotion of a solid waste hierarchy for recovery of solid waste, where prevention, reduction, re-use, recycling and composting is of primary consideration followed by other means of recovery such as energy recovery and lastly disposal;

(c) restriction of landfills and other disposal facilities near airdromes, wetlands, flood plains and ecologically sensitive areas;

(d) development and promotion of public health by observing solid waste management safeguards that uphold key social and health determinants;

(e) categorisation of solid waste depending on its physical or chemical characteristics;

(f) protection of the interests of consumers through effective participation of consumers in the management and decision-making processes for solid waste management;

(g) provision of universal access to basic solid waste services; and

(h) ensuring prudential financing mechanism for solid waste management are in place.

PART II
MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTE

6. Management of solid waste by local authorities

(1) A local authority shall, in accordance with the Constitution, the Local Government Act, 2019 and this Act, manage solid waste and may undertake solid waste management in partnership or association with another local authority, public body or private body.

(2) Where a local authority undertakes solid waste management, sections 13 and 14 apply to that local authority as if for a reference to "solid waste management company" there were substituted a reference to "local authority".

(3) Where a local authority undertakes solid waste management in partnership or association with another local authority, public body or private body that local authority shall do so in accordance with sections 8 and 9.

(4) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, a local authority shall, in consultation with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency, construct, operate and maintain landfills and other prescribed disposal facilities.

(5) Despite the generality of sub-sections (1), (3) and (4), the functions of a local authority, with respect to solid waste, are to—

(a) facilitate and manage activities that promote the key concepts and principles of solid waste management as specified in section 5;

(b) determine the location of landfills and other disposal facilities in accordance with international best practice, in consultation with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency;

(d) create an enabling environment and appropriate incentives for the delivery of reliable, sustainable and affordable solid waste services; and

(e) provide for the systematic collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste in service zones falling under its jurisdiction.

7. Solid waste services by local authorities

A local authority shall, in accordance with the Local Government Act, 2019, and this Act, provide solid waste services and may, in accordance with the Constitution, provide solid waste services in partnership or association with another local authority, public body or private body.

8. Resolution to establish solid waste management company

(1) A local authority may resolve to—

(a) establish a solid waste management company for the management of solid waste in its area of jurisdiction;

(b) enter into an agreement with another local authority, two or more local authorities or a public or private body to establish a joint solid waste management company for the management of solid waste; and

(2) Where a local authority establishes a company to provide solid waste management or delegates its functions to a private body, the local authority shall not—

(a) undertake solid waste management in a solid waste management area that is being managed by a solid waste management company; and

(b) provide solid waste services in the service zone covered by a licensed service provider.

(3) Despite sub-section (2), a local authority may provide solid waste management services during an emergency and where a solid waste management company fails or neglects to provide solid waste services.

9. Incorporation of solid waste management company, shareholders and members

(1) An entity to manage solid waste shall be incorporated under the Companies Act, 2017, as a private or public company.

(2) The articles of association of a solid waste management company, incorporated in accordance with sub-section (1), shall state the primary objective of the company as the management of solid waste.

(3) The shareholders of a solid waste management company shall be—

(a) the local authority and the Minister responsible for finance, where the local authority is not in partnership with any other local authority or private or public body;

(b) the local authorities incorporating the company and the Minister responsible for finance, who shall each hold the number of shares that may be stipulated in a shareholder’s agreement; or

(c) the local authority, private or public body and Minister responsible for finance, who shall each hold the number of shares that may be stipulated in a shareholder’s agreement.

(4) The shareholders of a solid waste management company shall appoint not more than eleven members of the Board of the company of which the majority of members shall be from the public sector and at least two members shall be from the private sector.

(5) The Minister shall appoint the chairperson of the Board.

(6) The members shall elect a vice-chairperson from among themselves.

(7) The tenure of office and removal from office of a member shall be as stated in the articles of association of the solid waste management company.

10. Name of solid waste management company

(1) The name of a solid waste management company shall incorporate the words "solid waste management".

(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) prohibits the use of an abbreviation indicative of a name of a district or province.

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