To redress past imbalances in the provision of waste collection services, it is imperative that acceptable, affordable and sustainable waste collection services be rendered to all South Africans. The provision of waste collection services improves the quality of life of the entire community and ensures a clean and more acceptable place to live and work in. The lack of or poor quality waste collection services can however result in a number of environmental and human health problems.

The National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008) stipulates that standards are required to "give effect to the right to an environment that is not harmful to health and well-being," and that this right have to be applied "uniformly throughout the Republic". It is recognised that South Africa is a developing country and the purpose of the setting of standards is to ensure a service to all while complying with health and safety regulations without unnecessarily changing current creative collection processes as long as they function well and deliver a service of acceptable standard to all households. These National Domestic Waste Collection Standards are therefore applicable to all domestic waste collection services throughout the country.

The setting of National Domestic Waste Collection Standards, was informed by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008), the General Waste Collection Standards of Gauteng Province, the current international waste management standards and good practices in both developed and developing countries, the current waste collection practices in South African municipalities as well as stakeholder consultations.

NOTE: Guidelines in support of the standards are provided in text boxes throughout the document.