RDF Dryer Manufacturer in South Africa
See how we dry RDFLooking for RDF dryers manufacturers in South Africa? STRONGA builds FlowDrya lines to order at its Hertfordshire works and supplies them to South Africa — see the regulatory and economic context below.
FlowDrya RDF dryers are engineered to order at STRONGA's Hertfordshire works and supplied to South African fuel producers and waste managers, though no FlowDrya RDF line is documented in the country yet. Refuse-derived fuel matters here because the cement industry co-processes it in place of coal, and the National Waste Management Strategy 2020 explicitly favours recovering energy from waste ahead of burial. A wet, variable RDF is worthless to a kiln operator; drying it to a low, even moisture lifts and steadies its calorific value so it can be sold against a documented grade. Sorting, treating and storing waste to make refuse-derived fuel is a listed waste activity requiring a waste management licence under Act 59 of 2008.
Supplying South Africa
We supply South Africa from our Hertfordshire works — we have no documented RDF installation in South Africa yet.
Regulatory context
The National Environmental Management: Waste Act (Act 59 of 2008) is the framework statute for waste, built on the waste hierarchy; a listed waste management activity — including the treatment, recovery or processing of waste and the operation of a landfill — may not be undertaken without a waste management licence, so a drying-and-recovery operation is authorised through that licensing regime rather than tipped to landfill by default.
Source: https://www.gov.za/documents/national-environmental-management-waste-act · checked 2026-08
Organic residues are governed by the National Norms and Standards for the treatment of organic waste, published under the Waste Act in Government Notice 275 (Government Gazette 44340, 2021); the norms set treatment requirements for composting and anaerobic digestion and define the digestate that remains after a biodegradable feedstock is digested, the quality regime a dried fibre, manure or organic amendment answers to before it leaves site.
Source: https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemwa_organicwastetreatment_normsandstandards_g44340gon275.pdf · checked 2026-08
The Western Cape is phasing organic waste out of landfill, targeting a 50 per cent diversion of organics in 2022 and a full ban by 2027, enforced pragmatically through conditions written into each landfill's waste management licence — so an operator that keeps generating wet organic residue must find a treatment and recovery route, and drying is the step that makes that residue storable and marketable.
Source: https://www.esi-africa.com/features-analysis/western-cape-bans-organic-waste-in-landfills/ · checked 2026-08
The National Waste Management Strategy 2020 sets the policy direction, applying the waste hierarchy and a circular-economy approach that prioritises recovery — including energy recovery from organic and other waste ahead of disposal — the national basis on which dried, waste-derived and biomass fuels are treated as resources rather than as material for burial.
Source: https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/2020nationalwaste_managementstrategy1.pdf · checked 2026-08
In the absence of a bespoke national solid-fuel specification, producers and cement kilns characterise waste-derived and biomass fuels against the European ISO standards local laboratories use — EN ISO 21640 for solid recovered fuel classification, the EN ISO 17225 series for solid biofuels, and EN ISO 18134 for moisture determination — so a dried fuel can be traded on a documented calorific value and moisture grade.
Source: https://www.iso.org/standard/71309.html · checked 2026-08
Applicable standards: EN ISO 21640, EN ISO 17225-4, EN ISO 18134, NEM:WA organic-waste norms (GN 275).
Economic context
Carbon carries a real and rising price: under the Carbon Tax Act (Act 15 of 2019) the rate rose to R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 1 January 2026, the start of Phase 2, and is legislated to climb to R462 per tonne by 2030 — so every tonne of coal a dried, waste-derived or biomass fuel displaces avoids both the fuel bill and a growing carbon-tax liability.
Source: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/south-africa/corporate/other-taxes · checked 2026-08
Bought-in electricity is dear and getting dearer: NERSA approved a 12.74 per cent Eskom tariff increase for direct customers from 1 April 2025, on top of years of above-inflation rises and an unreliable grid — which favours drying systems built around recovered kiln, boiler or process heat rather than grid electricity.
Source: https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/electricity-and-energy-ministry-notes-nersa-electricity-tariff-decision · checked 2026-08
There is a genuine domestic market for a dried, specification-consistent alternative fuel: the cement industry co-processes waste-derived fuel in its kilns and can reach a coal substitution rate of up to 30 per cent, and technical operators report that demand from cement producers for a reliable alternative fuel is real and growing as coal costs rise — demand that rewards a low, even moisture and a documented calorific value.
Source: https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/alternative-fuels-reduce-costs-2026-06-05 · checked 2026-08
Worked illustration (assumptions stated):
RDF economics turn on the carbon price and the coal it replaces. Cement kilns can substitute up to 30 per cent of their coal with alternative fuel, and with the carbon tax at R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent in 2026 – rising toward R462 by 2030 – every tonne of coal a consistent RDF displaces avoids both the fuel cost and the tax. Producing that fuel takes energy, but a 12.74 per cent electricity tariff rise from 2025 makes drying on recovered process heat far cheaper than the grid. A dried, spec-consistent fuel commands a stable offtake; a wet one is rejected or discounted. Assumptions: substitution rate, offtake price and heat source are site-specific.
Figures are indicative and were last reviewed August 2026; energy and disposal prices move — contact us for a current assessment.
RDF Dryer Manufacturer in South Africa — FAQ
Do you have an RDF drying plant in the country?
Not yet. We will not imply a reference we do not hold; our documented FlowDrya lines dry RDF-type residues and biomass in Britain on the identical platform a producer here would receive.
Why does a cement kiln want dried RDF?
Co-processing needs a fuel with a predictable calorific value. Water in the fuel steals combustion energy and destabilises the kiln, so a dried, low-moisture RDF substitutes more coal per tonne and earns a firmer price.
Which permits apply to making RDF here?
Sorting, treating and storing waste to produce refuse-derived fuel are listed activities that need a waste management licence under Act 59 of 2008, and the kiln that burns it must hold its own authorisation for co-processing.
How does the carbon tax help the business case?
Because coal burned in a kiln is taxed at R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent and rising, displacing it with a waste-derived fuel cuts a real cost that grows each year toward R462 by 2030.
What grade can you dry RDF to?
We configure each FlowDrya to the moisture the offtaker specifies, taking wet, variable feed down to a low, even level that supports a documented calorific-value grade for sale.
What feedstocks make good RDF here?
Non-recyclable paper, plastics, textiles and other combustible fractions left after sorting municipal and commercial waste. Shredding and drying them yields a homogeneous fuel with a predictable calorific value and controlled contaminants that a cement kiln can meter into its burner. Consistent particle size and dryness raise throughput and lower rejection.