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ENVIRONMENT → MATERIALS → MUNICIPAL ACTION

Follow the plastic. Understand the evidence.

Understand the environmental account. Shape a feasible local response.

01 / DEFINE YOUR JURISDICTION

Which municipality are you advising?

Your environmental accounts and legal register use this same location.

South Africa pilot
City of Johannesburg · JHBMetropolitan municipalityNational Treasury directory · 257 municipalities / 9 provinces · 2026-10-27 ↗
ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE / SOUTH AFRICA

Every compartment.
An accountable estimate.

A transport model for Johannesburg, from environmental inputs to compartment stocks and eight polymer categories. Follow the assumptions as closely as the numbers.

Read the methods
City of Johannesburg · Gauteng · Reference year 2017
Assumption dominatedPublished source inputs. Explicit local assumptions. Independent local validation pending.Method and parameters ↗
Estimated inland stock
138,883.5 t

End of 2017 · model scenario

Macroplastic stock
116,617.2 t

5 mm and larger · scenario

Microplastic stock
22,266.3 t

Below 5 mm · source supports differ

PUBLISHED OPERATIONAL CONTEXT

Johannesburg in the source record

1,691,487 tAll waste landfilled in 2024/25
9.6 %Dry mixed waste diversion in 2024/25
4,803,262Population reported in Census 2022

Pikitup annual report, Table 2 p36, and the city Census2022 brief. Mixed waste and population are context; neither validates the polymer stock model.

Read the annual report ↗

WHAT THE MODEL ACTUALLY DOES

Stocks first. Polymers next.

  1. Allocate source inputs to the local control volume.
  2. Integrate competing transfers, fragmentation and collection.
  3. Calculate the palette from each source contribution.

The 5th–95th percentile sensitivity range is 38,813.8–400,926.3 t. This is prior propagation, not a calibrated confidence interval.

JOHANNESBURG / FIVE ENVIRONMENTAL CATEGORIES

The compartment fingerprint

Stock tonnes on a log scale. Hover or focus a point for its value. Each category has its own outer ring.

01

Land & soils

C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8C9C1 Urban and Built Surfaces: 13,429 tC2 Industrial and Commercial Sites: 3,754.36 tC3 Agricultural Soils and Cropland: 11,549.79 tC4 Pasture and Grassland: 1,501.7 tC5 Forest and Semi-Natural Soils: 1,005.13 tC6 Roadside and Transportation Corridors: 4,624.8 tC7 Open Dumpsites and Uncontrolled Landfills: 3,547.88 tC8 Construction and Mining Sites and Bare Soils: 4,044.6 tC9 Floodplain and Overbank Soils: 1,035.84 t
Log scale · tOuter ring 13,429 t
02

Freshwater

C10C11C12C13C14C15C16C17C18C19C20C21C10 Urban Drainage and Stormwater Retention Basins: 6,661.09 tC11 Small Streams and Headwaters: 4,032.28 tC12 River Surface Waters and Floating Layers: 3,850.5 tC13 River Water Columns: 774.1 tC14 River Bed Sediments: 17,931.55 tC15 Riverbanks and Riparian Zones: 7,239.73 tC16 Lake and Reservoir Surface Waters: 4,654.2 tC17 Lake and Reservoir Water Columns: 2,134.63 tC18 Lake and Reservoir Bottom Sediments: 21,496.94 tC19 Wetland and Marsh Surface Waters: 3,720.7 tC20 Wetland Sediments and Peat: 21,790.82 tC21 Groundwater and Aquifers: 103.88 t
Log scale · tOuter ring 21,791 t
03

Coast & estuaries

C22C23C24C25C26C27C28C29No stock estimate
Outside Johannesburg scope
04

Marine & deep sea

C30C31C32C33C34C35C36C37C38C39C40No stock estimate
Outside Johannesburg scope
05

Cryosphere

C41C42C43C44No stock estimate
Seasonal snow unquantified; other pools outside scope

NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL COMPARISON

Compartment stock scenarios

Common inland model · C1–21 · end of 2017 · tonnes

South AfricaGautengAssumption dominated · same process parameters across regions
C1Urban and Built Surfaces
173,417.1
42,215.1
C2Industrial and Commercial Sites
48,482.4
11,802.1
C3Agricultural Soils and Cropland
149,149.6
36,307.6
C4Pasture and Grassland
19,392.4
4,720.7
C5Forest and Semi-Natural Soils
12,979.9
3,159.7
C6Roadside and Transportation Corridors
59,722.9
14,538.4
C7Open Dumpsites and Uncontrolled Landfills
45,815.9
11,153
C8Construction and Mining Sites and Bare Soils
52,230.5
12,714.5
C9Floodplain and Overbank Soils
13,376.4
3,256.2
Stock comparison uses one assumed inland network scaled by Census2022 population. Regional differences therefore reflect the allocation rule, not measured transport differences. Coastal and marine stocks are outside this comparison.
Reference year 2017. No current-year forecast. Unknown compartments are not zero. Open source data ↗

References and evidence status

Schwarz et al. 2023 · paper and source model Schwarz supplementary CSV3 · 2017 country emissions Schwarz supplementary methods · eight materials DPME Census 2022 · population allocation Pikitup 2024/25 · operational context only Johannesburg Census 2022 statistical brief

Source values are traceable. Modelled stocks and polymer palettes have not been independently validated for Johannesburg. Source data and scenario results are displayed separately.

Legal sources and generated reports retain their original English wording.

plastinspect. Better evidence. Accountable local action.South Africa pilot · Member reports