On Friday 18 March the world will mark Global Recycling Day to bring to light the benefits of recycling waste for the environment, businesses and people. The day was first recognized by the United Nations in 2018 and has since birthed countless initiatives by governments, civil society groups and the private sector that have impacted environmental action and awareness in profound ways.

This year the SA National Defense Force (SANDF) will be no exception. The military is taking its “green soldiering” environmental concept to the next level by installing biogas plants that will enable two military bases to reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels to cook meals for about 220 people a day.

The milestone coincides with Global Recycling Day, celebrated annually on 18 March to bring to light the benefits of recycling waste for the environment and people. Biogas is a form of recycling in that organic waste is used to produce gas that generates electricity.

The biogas plants at the two military bases, have been installed with support from the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), and turn kitchen food waste that is normally sent to landfill into biogas which will reduce the amount of coal-fired electricity used in one kitchen and virtually eliminate the use of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in the other. The biogas plants are expected to reach full production early in the new year.

The biogas project is one of several waste recycling and energy saving programs being undertaken by the SANDF in partnership with SANEDI, the state-owned agency that conducts energy research and development and promotes energy efficiency on behalf of the government.

“The Department of Defense (DoD) and the SANDF are keen to save costs in energy usage and to ensure that the SA National Defense Force has security of energy supply in a constrained energy system,” explains SANEDI manager of renewable energy Dr Karen Surridge. “The biogas project is also very much in line with the SANDF’s green soldiering concept under which it has introduced strong environmental protection measures in its operations.”

The bases at which SANEDI has managed the biogas installations and trained personnel in the maintenance of the plants are Air Force Base (AFB) Makhado [MS1] on the outskirts of the town of Makhado (formerly Louis Trichardt) in northern Limpopo and 523 Electronic Warfare