Green economy in the wastewater treatment sector: Jobs, awareness, barriers, and opportunities in selected local governments in South Africa

Authors

  • Benton Otieno Centre for Renewable Energy and Water Vaal University of Technology
  • Aoyi Ochieng Centre for Renewable Energy and Water, Vaal University of Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2018/v29i1a3379

Keywords:

Northern Cape, Northwest, South Africa, local government, green jobs

Abstract

The green economy (GE) has increasingly gained international focus, with new strategies aimed at restructuring the economy in an environmentally friendly manner. A study was carried out to analyse existing and potential green jobs and identify green qualifications and skills necessary for the development of the GE. The study was done within the context of the role of local governments in the adoption of green economy strategies in the wastewater treatment sector, in selected local governments across the northern provinces of South Africa. A descriptive survey method with qualitative and quantitative approaches was employed for data collection from twenty-four wastewater treatment plants in eleven local municipalities. The concept of the GE was foreign to several employees, who could not identify green jobs within most sectors of the economy. Only 13.5% of the employees of the surveyed plants were involved in directly green jobs. A further 36% were in green-related jobs while the remaining 50.5% were involved in non-green jobs. Barriers to the creation of green jobs and implementation of green practices were the shortage of employees with green and conventional wastewater treatment skills, and lack of training in green skills. Several opportunities for green jobs creation exist, such as the implementation of renewable energy, re-use of treated effluent, and processing of waste sludge into compost. To spur GE growth and create green jobs, the creation of awareness, development of skills and implementation of green technologies should be intensified.

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Author Biographies

Benton Otieno, Centre for Renewable Energy and Water Vaal University of Technology

Benton Otieno is an upcoming researcher with interest in the fields of advanced wastewater treatment and green economy. He has over five publications in peer reviewed journals and has presented at both international and national conferences. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Chemistry at The Vaal University of Technology, under the supervision of Prof. Aoyi Ochieng.

Aoyi Ochieng, Centre for Renewable Energy and Water, Vaal University of Technology

Ochieng Aoyi is a professor of chemical engineering, director of the Centre for Renewable Energy & Water and Head, Department of Chemical Engineering, at the Vaal University of Technology.  He has BEng (ECUST, China), MSc (UDSM/TUB, Tanzania/Germany) and PhD (UCT, South Africa) degrees in chemical engineering and Diploma in Education (KSTC, Kenya). He is a registered professional engineer (PrEng) by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and a C rated researcher by the National Research Foundation (NRF). His is a consultant in wastewater management and renewable energy, in which he has over 23 years research and teaching experience.  He has published 64 articles in peer reviewed journals and 79 conference presentations; and has supervised many postgraduate students (20 to completion and 26 in progress at doctoral and masters levels). He is a reviewer for 25 and editor for 3 international journals. He has written 1 book and 3 book chapters.

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Published

2018-03-22

How to Cite

Otieno, B., & Ochieng, A. (2018). Green economy in the wastewater treatment sector: Jobs, awareness, barriers, and opportunities in selected local governments in South Africa. Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, 29(1), 50–58. https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2018/v29i1a3379