Afval besoedel die omgewing.

• Afval = waste, rubbish, or garbage
• besoedel = pollutes / contaminates
• die = the
• omgewing = environment or surroundings

So the sentence means Waste pollutes the environment.

Afrikaans usually follows the same basic word order as English in simple statements:

• Subject + Verb + Object

So here:

• Afval = subject
• besoedel = verb
• die omgewing = object

Literally: Waste pollutes the environment.

In this sentence, afval is being used as a general, uncountable noun, like English waste in Waste pollutes the environment.

Afrikaans often leaves out the article when talking about something in a general sense:

• Afval besoedel die omgewing. = Waste pollutes the environment.

If you wanted to talk about a specific thing, you might use an article:

• Die afval = the waste

Usually, yes in this kind of sentence. Afval can refer to:

• garbage
• rubbish
• trash
• waste material

The exact English translation depends on context, but waste is a very natural match here.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article meaning the.

A very useful point for learners: Afrikaans does not mark grammatical gender the way Dutch or German does in everyday article use. For singular and plural nouns, die is normally used as the.

So:

• die omgewing = the environment
• die kinders = the children
• die boek = the book

That makes articles in Afrikaans much simpler than in some other languages.

Yes, besoedel is the normal verb form here.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way English verbs do in the present tense.

Compare:

• Ek besoedel = I pollute
• Jy besoedel = you pollute
• Hy besoedel = he pollutes
• Afval besoedel = waste pollutes

So unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

Yes, that is also natural.

Both besoedel and vervuil can relate to pollution, but there can be a slight difference in feel:

• besoedel often has the sense of pollute or contaminate
• vervuil often has the sense of make dirty/pollute

In many everyday contexts, both work well.
So:

• Afval besoedel die omgewing.
• Afval vervuil die omgewing.

Both can mean Waste pollutes the environment.

The plural is usually omgewings.

But in this sentence, die omgewing is singular and means the environment as a general concept.

Examples:

• die omgewing = the environment
• die omgewings = the environments / surrounding areas depending on context

Here, singular is the natural choice.

No. In Afrikaans, die is pronounced roughly like dee.

So:

• die = sounds like dee
• not like English die

That is one of the first pronunciation points English speakers have to get used to.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

AF-val bə-SOO-dəl dee OM-khə-veng

A few notes:

• Afval: stress on the first syllable
• besoedel: stress usually on soe
• die: dee
• omgewing: the g is the guttural Afrikaans sound, not an English g

A rough overall pronunciation: AF-val bə-SOO-dəl dee OM-khə-veng

Yes. Omgewing can mean:

• environment
• surroundings
• area around something

So depending on context, die omgewing might mean:

• the environment in an ecological sense
• the surrounding area
• the surroundings

In this sentence, because of afval and besoedel, the ecological meaning the environment is the most natural.

It is most naturally read as a general truth or general statement:

• Afval besoedel die omgewing. = Waste pollutes the environment.

Afrikaans simple present, like English simple present, can be used for general facts.
If context made it clear, it could also describe a present situation, but the default reading is a general fact.