Press releases

Healthy environment, healthy population

Details: Published: Wednesday, 01 April 2015 10:41

Pollution poses a real hazard to human health and is estimated to be responsible for nearly 5% of the global* burden of disease. By recycling waste materials from our homes and offices, we can actually prevent a range of pollutants from entering our atmosphere, rivers, streams, and other waters.

There are so many good reasons for you to play your part. Paper recycling saves water and electricity, and prevents unnecessary chemicals being introduced into the environment which impacts climate change. It also prevents landfills being filled up with waste paper. In fact, for every 1 ton of paper recycled, 3 cubic metres of landfill is saved** and about 12 jobs created. In 2013, recycling efforts recovered 1.17 million tons of paper, the equivalent of saving landfill space of over 1 403 Olympic-size pools.***

Mpact Recycling is South Africa’s leading collector of recovered paper, collecting more than 450 000 tons of waste paper every year for recycling into cardboard, cartonboard and containerboard for use in the country’s packaging industry.

To prove that it’s really easy to get started right away, Mpact Recycling has provided some tips for recycling in your home:

Sort your household waste into paper, plastic, glass, cans and other. This can easily be done by having four different coloured or marked containers and by sorting each day as these items are discarded. The balance of the waste is classified as rubbish and goes into your normal refuse bin for weekly collections.
Get your children involved so that recycling will become a good habit as they get older.
In your waste paper container you can discard newspaper, magazines, catalogues, phone books, old mail, computer paper, envelopes, gift wrapping paper, cardboard, food boxes, shoeboxes, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, as well as paper egg cartons.
Keep your waste paper clean and dry, as quality is important for a good end product.
Ensure you drop off your waste paper at any of the many Ronnie Banks conveniently located countrywide. By doing so you can help that school or community with their Ronnie Bank raise funds for the paper collected. Visit www.mpactrecycling.co.za to locate your nearest Ronnie Bank.
Support your local recyclers or trolley pushers. Put out those other recyclables (plastic, glass and cans) into clear bags for them to easily take on their rounds each week.
Reuse paper in your home wherever you can (to cover books, for craftwork or as gift wrap, for example).

So next time, before you automatically toss some waste items into the dustbin, stop right there and put them aside for recycling. Instead of becoming part of the rubbish, your recycled waste can benefit the environment and provide a livelihood for members of your community.

* US Environmental Protection Agency** Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (PRASA.*** Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA)

Notes to Editor:About Mpact Mpact is a leading manufacturer of paper and plastics packaging in southern Africa. The Paper business is integrated across the recycled paper-based corrugated and converted paper products packaging value chain and comprises three divisions being Recycling, Paper Manufacturing and Corrugated and Converted Paper Products. The Plastics business manufactures rigid plastic packaging for the food, beverage, personal care, home care, pharmaceutical, agricultural and retail markets. Products include PET preforms, bottles and jars; plastic jumbo bins, wheelie bins, pallets and crates; plastic containers for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market; styrene and PET trays, fast food containers and clear plastic films. The Group employs 4,126 people in 32 operations in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Issued by: Shannon Roscher PR Worx This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 011 896 1818

On behalf of: Donna-Mari Noble Mpact Recycling 011 538 8603