NEWS ROUND-UP
SUSTAINABILITY NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD SOUTH AFRICA’S PAPER RECYCLING RATE ON THE UP During 2020, South Africans recycled 1.1 million tonnes of paper and paper packaging, putting the country’s latest paper recovery rate at 73% – up from 68.5% in 2019. This is according to paper recycling association RecyclePaperZA, which states that South Africa has kept 19 million tonnes of paper out of landfills over the past 15 years, enough to cover 3 456 soccer fields. “This is a fantastic achievement, but there is always room for improvement. With more companies moving to paper packaging for their products, consumers need to play their part too,” says Anele Sololo, general manager, RecyclePaperZA. Sololo believes that it is a good time for citizens, schools and businesses to be more proactive in terms of waste and recycling. “By recycling, we not only reduce the burden on our landfills and support livelihoods, we are also more mindful of the waste we create and where it should be going,” notes Sololo. “In a world where packaging pollution clogs its waterways and rubbish lines the streets, recycling is something that citizens can do to bring about a cleaner South Africa.”
Stakeholders join forces to tackle rising e-waste In order to tackle South Africa’s rising e-waste challenge, key local and international stakeholders have joined forces to launch an ambitious project set to bring about economic opportunities while ensuring workable and safe solutions for the management of e-waste. Rooted in the global Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI) programme, the local chapter of the SRI project aims to build capacity for sustainable e-waste recycling, by supporting related national initiatives and implementing pilot ventures. The SRI project in South Africa involves various stakeholders including The Appliance Bank (TAB) – a training programme for unemployed men that gives them the technical skills needed to repair damaged and customer-returned small appliances. TAB will provide a two-year training programme for unemployed men to establish their own sustainable businesses. The men repair the donated household appliances and sell them for a profit in their communities. The pilot project is kicking off in iLembe, KwaZulu-Natal. The first phase of the SRI programme was implemented between 2013 and 2018 and it is now in its second phase (2019 to 2023). The overall development objective of the SRI programme (Phase 2) is to create favourable framework conditions, which enable the development of a sustainable recycling industry for e-waste and any related waste streams.
Pilot project to help divert food waste from landfills The City of Cape Town (CoCT) is appealing to the public to take part in its organic food waste project, aimed at diverting food waste from landfills. The pilot project will be trialled to assess its efficacy and potential for further roll-out. The food waste diversion project will operate from four CoCT drop-off sites in Belhar, Killarney, Hout Bay and Woodstock, and will have four pop-up sites in the Cape Town CBD, Claremont CBD, Durbanville and Somerset West. Participants will be issued a 5 ℓ bucket with an information leaflet, to fill with organic food waste,
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temporarily storing it in the fridge or freezer; when the buckets are filled, the waste can be taken to the designated site where the bucket was received. The bucket will then be decanted, cleaned and reissued to the individual. The project will run until 30 June, with 200 participants per site. Alison Davison, head: Waste Minimisation, CoCT, says it is among the various strategies being trialled to divert food waste from landfills, including a garden waste programme and a home composting container programme.
