RECYCLING
Socio-economic factors affecting separation at source in Drakenstein Municipality With national government’s Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations coming into force, the collection for recycling of most post-consumer packaging and products is now to be managed by the relevant producer responsibility organisations. This is focusing attention on effective recycling collection systems. By Hugh Tyrrell & Liza Volschenk*
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eparation at source is regarded worldwide as the preferred method to diver t high-value recyclable materials into the recycling economy. This is especially applicable to middle- and upper-income households combined with a regular kerbside collection service. Research by the CSIR in 2012 estimated that of the 19 million tonnes of municipal solid waste going into landfills in South Africa, 25% is made up of recyclable materials. Using the CSIR Phase 2 Waste Roadmap (2011), the average economic value of these materials lost through landfilling is some R4 billion each year. Most of the large metros and many medium and smaller municipalities have introduced separation-at-source recycling, using a two-bag, wet/dry separation system with regular kerbside collections. This requires householders to separate their recyclables – plastic, paper, tins
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IMIESA May 2021
and glass – into a free bag (usually clear) provided by the municipality. The bag of recyclables is collected and swopped for a fresh bag each week so that recycling can continue. A study was first conducted in 2019 in the Western Cape’s Drakenstein Municipal Area by Liza Volschenk of the University of Johannesburg. This research analysed the socio-economic factors affecting household
participation and was followed up with an article published in the African Journal of Business and Economic Research in March this year. Drakenstein incorporates the towns of Paarl and Wellington, where six middleand upper-income suburbs were identified by the municipality to be part of the survey. The sample size was 240 households, which comprised mostly white Afrikaansspeaking residents with household size ranging from one to ten, with an average of three members. The research considered a range of variables affecting separation-at-source par ticipation, including gender, age, education, income, whether schoolgoing children were par t of the household, and what could work best to inform householders about recycling. Analysis of the data coming out of the research confirmed some common assumptions and pointed to other useful findings. As could be expected, households where women were in charge of waste management were also those where recycling was highest. Income is generally an indicator of recycling par ticipation, often because higher disposable income results in greater consumer spending and large amounts of packaging materials to be dealt with. The findings, however, were inconclusive on this because the probability to recycle
