Plastic litter on KZN beaches signs of a wider problem

A clean-up alliance

Plastics SA has been supporting river catchment projects in KZN for several years now, either directly or via initiatives led by Inkwazi Isu members. Interventions include education programmes aimed at local communities, recycling infrastructure, litter booms and clean-up campaigns to save the marine environment.

These projects recently received a welcome financial boost thanks to funding provided by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance), a global non-profit organisation, as part of a four-year collaboration agreement. Sasol’s financial support has also enabled Inkwazi Isu and its stakeholder partners to conduct a baseline study on the current state of waste management infrastructure.

Another exciting development has been the identification of 13 garden sites within eThekwini Municipality, which have been earmarked to be revamped into buy-back centres and drop-off sites. Two of these sites have already been completed.

It’s essential that we work with public and private stakeholders to reduce the volume of plastic waste to landfill. We also need to combat widespread incidences of illegal dumping and littering, which clearly pose a major environmental threat,” explains Douw Steyn, sustainability director at Plastics SA.

The raging floods in eThekwini during 2022 serve as a prime example. A massive deluge of litter and debris swept down rivers and ended up on various pristine KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) beaches, in the process clogging stormwater systems and damaging infrastructure.

“Research has shown that 80% of litter on beaches and in the oceans consists of land-based waste. For this reason, Plastics SA has partnered with various initiatives geared towards keeping South Africa’s river catchment areas clean,” Steyn continues.

These partnerships include Plastics SA’s involvement in KZN’s Inkwazi Isu (Fish Eagle) Project, which has been instrumental in tackling the issue of waste in the environment. Members include Plastics SA, Association of Clean Communities, SA Healthcare Foundation, Coca Cola Beverages South Africa, Dow Chemicals, Petco, Polyco, Expanded Polystyrene Association of Southern Africa, and Sasol.

In the wake of the 2022 eThekwini floods, Plastics SA helped spearhead a plan of action to solve the waste crisis. Clean-up progammes were coordinated by Clean Surf Project (Fish Eagle Project South Coast River Catchment), Tri-Eco Travel and Tours (Durban North areas) and Durban Solid Waste.

A key success factor has been the generous donations made by plastics industries leaders such as Polyco, Petco and Safripol in terms of donating funds for the provision of the necessary equipment, such as litter bags, chainsaws, rakes, gloves and boots. Alongside the work of volunteers, waste collectors also received a daily allowance.

As an Alliance member, Sasol covered the cost of upgrading two materials recovery facilities (MRFs) geared up to process some 2 400 tonnes of plastic waste annually. A further 10 Alliance-funded MRFs are in the pipeline for eThekwini.

“Part of combatting plastic waste is the recognition of its value – in most instances – as a recyclable material. From Plastic SA’s perspective, we are firmly committed to working with communities, organisations and municipalities like eThekwini to find innovative responses,” Steyn concludes.