Waste Management

PIKITUP’S CO-PRODUCTION

MODEL CREATES EMPLOYMENT

The impact of Covid-19 on South Africa’s ailing economy has resulted in a huge loss of jobs. Gauteng, particularly Johannesburg which is the epicenter of economic activity in the country has been adversely affected.

The recent Statistics South Africa unemployment rate results bear this point out. However, despite the scientific confirmation of such a fact, one needs to drive around the City to witness firsthand the negative impact of unemployment.

The number of people begging or advertising their skills to potential employers is rising unabated. The long winding queues for unemployment insurance and social grants bear testimony to the large scale of unemployment facing the country. Although an atmosphere of despair is pervasive in the country pursuant to unemployment and the outbreak of Covid-19, strides are being taken to address the unemployment challenge.

The City of Johannesburg’s waste management company, Pikitup has introduced the co-production model to contribute to efforts aimed at reducing the current 32.5% unemployment rate.

The co-production model in essence entails that Pikitup in rendering its waste management and minimization mandate, should do so in conjunction with local communities or residents. This approach gives credence to Pikitup’s long held view that it cannot achieve the highest standards of cleanliness possible without the participation and involvement of local communities.

The co-production model has created about 2025 jobs in all the regions of the City. In terms of the model, each ward in the City will be capacitated with 15 Expanded Public Works Programme Employees, who will assist with waste management activities.

The model’s approach entails the appointment of co-operatives, nonprofit companies and exempted micro-enterprises, to ensure improved waste management services in the City of Johannesburg. Forty eight (48) of such companies will in turn appoint the above mentioned number of employees on a rotational basis to assist Pikitup with litter picking, street cleaning and rendering education and awareness programmes to residents about the value of a clean environment and the value of recycling as well as identification, clearing and /or reporting of illegal dumping when it occurs.

The city is fast running out of landfill airspace and the four landfill sites collectively have less than five years of landfill airspace remaining. The dire need for communities to adopt responsible waste management through recycling is an imperative to reduce waste that ends up at landfill sites.

The education and awareness creation aspect of the jobs that the appointed employees are charged with is anticipated that it will contribute immensely to the preservation of the remaining landfill airspace.

Currently, recycling efforts are gaining traction in high income areas of the City and Pikitup has a target of diverting the following waste streams away from the landfill sites: 50% percent of green waste during the 2020/1 financial year, 85% of builders’ rubble by 2021 and 85% of dry waste. This effectively means that 1 720 984 tons of such waste must be diverted away from landfills.

It is against this backdrop that the education and awareness campaigns by the appointed employees seek to raise awareness and encourage local residents not to include such waste in their bins but to dispose of it in Pikitup’s waste disposal facilities situated in all the seven regions of the City.

The additional resource will also ensure that the street cleaning activities of Pikitup will be improved to assist ensuring that 9000 km of streets will be kept clean. However, it must also be emphasised that such a reality is only possible if residents refrain from dumping waste illegally and also refrain from littering.