ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
BY YASMINE MIEMIEC
POLLUTION, PLASTIC -what are the solutions?
S
outh Africans dispose of
and recycling have a place in
to create the new version of the
to fill an entire football field 10
However, upcycling and recycling
though most people are familiar
enough municipal solid waste
metres deep, every day. Every single person of our total population of 57
million generates up to 2,5 kilograms of waste per day, on average,
depending on his or her level of
corporate waste management.
use distinctly different processes that
feature their own benefits, depending on the quantity and type of waste being handled.
and Rural Development
upcycling can also help combat our huge unemployment problem
According to the 2018 South African State of Waste Report, in 2017 South
tons were recycled. This means that
We all know about
sent to landfill to rot and pollute
the waste come from?
the atmosphere. With waste and refuse increasing exponentially
every year, households and business organisations can no longer turn a blind eye.
Already there are reports that
Johannesburg’s landfills will reach capacity within the next six years. In order to combat this ever-
growing problem of waste, many
organisations think that recycling
is the best way to tackle this issue. Conversely, there are also other
options such as upcycling that can aid in the fight against waste and
pollution and companies should bear in mind that both upcycling
and corporations, we know very little about the benefits of upcycling. Upcycling: better quality and Upcycling is the process of
transforming waste materials or unwanted products into
different, new products of higher environmental value. When one
Africans generated 42 million tons
over 37 million tons of waste was
with recycling, along with the public
higher environmental value
income. – The Association for Water
of general waste, of which 4.9 million
same product. However, even
recycling – but where does The biggest waste stream in South Africa is general waste. which is
made up of organic waste such as food, gardening or animal waste.
upcycles, they are not breaking down the materials of waste products
as with recycling where plastic, for
example, is melted down to create more plastic. With upcycling the
item is refashioned, using the same materials.
In addition, we have construction
A good example here, is using old
or wood and then other waste
beds and shoes. The material is still
waste such as building rubble, sand such as paper, glass, metal, plastic and electronic materials. There
are different ways to assist with
tyres to make products like bags, dog the rubber from the tyres, just used in new ways.
decreasing this waste. One of these
So, what’s the difference really?
material is converted into the raw
In a nutshell, the difference
options is recycling where waste
material for the manufacture of new melted down and used to create new cans. The key differentiator
of recycling is the fact that used
products are put through a process
30 | Public Sector Leaders | April 2021
Both save the planet, right?
between the two is that recycling
involves a shredding, melting and/
or compressing process, usually to
recreate the same products as the
original products. Upcycling involves
