Shot-hole borer beetles put the brakes on garden-waste disposal in Cape Town

If you’re struggling to dispose of garden waste in Cape Town, blame the polyphagous shot-hole borer beetle.

The city council said the beetle’s emergence in April had delayed the appointment of a new chipping contractor at garden waste drop-off sites.

Waste that could contain the invasive beetle has to be treated differently, and the mayoral committee member responsible for drop-off sites, Xanthea Limberg, said this had forced the redrafting of specifications for a three-year chipping tender.

“This species was detected in April this year, and the city’s invasive species unit has been working since then to address the problem,” Limberg said on Saturday.

“Specifications for the previous three-year tender were drafted prior to this emergence and did not contain requirements for dealing with the threat posed by such species.”

Limberg said the city council was trying to make emergency plans. “All possible avenues to get an interim service up and running as quickly as possible are being explored,” she said.

“In the meantime, garden waste disposed at drop-off sites is being transported to landfills on a daily basis where it is being stockpiled.”

Commercial entities may be sent to alternative drop-off sites or landfills if their load was greater than 1.5 tons or they were dropping-off multiple loads per day. The closed Bellville drop-off site was also being used to stockpile garden waste.