Recycling drive going well
Tuesday, 22 June 2010 |   |  0 comment

Some 20 000 tons of recyclable waste was collected within the first week of Pikitup's Separation at Source project in November 2009; in December that amount more than doubled. The project has been going well so far. Pansy Jali-Oyedele, Pikitup's acting manager of communications, says: "The Separation at Source pilot project has been gaining momentum with increasing participation from residents in the participating suburbs. Even though the project has been faced with challenges, it has remained on schedule."

Pikitup's first Separation at Source pilot project was launched last year. It is running in Joburg's Waterval area - those northwestern areas serviced by the municipal waste manager's Waterval Depot, with the first collection of this new system made on Monday, 2 November.

Residents' level of participation in general is gradually increasing. One of the biggest challenges that Pikitup faces is telling people about the project. "Residents need to be further educated about separation at source and how recycling can make a positive impact in their personal lives as well as on the environment."

Pikitup's pilot project is helping to educate people about how to separate their waste into different bins, depending on what can be recycled. Recyclable materials are items such as paper, cans, glass bottles and plastics; non-recyclable waste is items such as light bulbs, food scraps and broken crockery.

Plans to spread the campaign to other areas in Johannesburg are still under way. "Once the pilot project is completed, in about six months, the data from [it] will be scrutinised and informed decisions on the way forward will be made."

Towards the end of last year, when Pikitup initiated its Separation at Source campaign as a pilot project, about 37 000 households were issued with two bins, one for recyclable materials such as paper and plastic and the other for non-recyclable materials.

The project aims to get residents to recycle their own waste, so teaching them about the growing waste challenges facing South Africa. "It must be emphasised that the Separation at Source project is a pilot study intended to yield data that will inform Pikitup of the sustainability of such a project as well as the best way to implement separation at source throughout Johannesburg," explains Jali-Oyedele.

A by-product of the project has been the creation of jobs. It requires training to implement the door-to-door education campaign. In addition, Pikitup's partner in the project, Mondi Recycling, has hired additional trucks and crew to help its progress.

http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/4747/266/