Objectives

To secure a qualified, reputable, and experienced contractor to manage hazardous waste across NMISA’s Pretoria and Cape Town campuses for a three-year period. The primary goal is to ensure safe, legally compliant, and environmentally responsible classification, collection, transportation, disposal, and recycling of laboratory and workshop waste, while supporting institutional sustainability through recyclable material recovery and equipment donation.

Scope of Work

The contract covers two primary locations: Pretoria (five buildings at the CSIR Scientia Campus) and Cape Town (one building at the Rosebank CSIR Scientia Campus). Services include:

• Classification: Categorizing waste according to regulatory standards and identifying chemical characteristics.
• Collection & Transportation: Ad-hoc collection (typically quarterly) using licensed vehicles and trained personnel, transporting waste to registered treatment, recycling, or landfill facilities.
• Disposal & Recycling: Safe disposal of hazardous waste and assistance with recycling paper, e-waste, plastics, metals, and glass. Donation of usable furniture and equipment to approved beneficiaries.
• Infrastructure & Compliance: Supplying compliant receptacles, maintaining proper labeling, conducting site audits, and submitting comprehensive documentation.

Technical Requirements

• Full compliance with the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations, local municipal by-laws, and applicable SANS standards.
• Mandatory registration with the national Waste Information System and verified partnerships with licensed disposal/treatment facilities.
• Valid transport permits, professional driving permits (PrDP), and specialized hazardous materials training for all drivers and collection staff.
• Submission of risk assessments, OHS policies, safe work procedures, emergency protocols, and ISO 14001/45001-aligned management systems.
• Provision of quarterly performance reports, annual trend analyses, and a final integrated report (electronic and hard copy if required).
• All sub-service providers must meet identical technical and compliance standards.

Skills and Experience Requirements

• Proven expertise in hazardous waste classification, handling, transport, and disposal per GN 634, GN 635, and SANS 10234.
• Demonstrated experience servicing scientific institutions, laboratories, or public sector entities.
• Strong operational capacity to reliably cover both Pretoria and Cape Town regions on short notice.
• Competence in waste stream identification, chemical characterization, and recommending appropriate disposal or recovery methods.
• Proficiency in generating audit-ready compliance documentation, manifest tracking, and user-friendly reporting formats.

Notes on Specialized Terms

• GN 634 & GN 635: Government Notices that classify hazardous waste categories and regulate their management under South African environmental law.
• SANS 10234: The South African standard adopting the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for chemical classification and labelling.
• Waste Information System: A mandatory national registry used to track the generation, movement, and final disposal of hazardous waste.
• ISO 14001 & 45001: International standards for environmental management systems and occupational health and safety management systems, respectively.
• B-BBEE Preference Points: A South African public procurement mechanism that awards additional scoring to bidders based on their Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment status level.