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Surveys conducted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have revealed that as much as a quarter of all the municipal waste generated in South Africa today still comprises mainline recyclables such as glass, paper, tins and plastics. The disposal of these recyclables as municipal waste is compromising the lifespan of the country’s landfills, many of which are running out of space.
In general, South African society is consuming an increasing amount of manufactured goods, resulting in correspondingly high waste levels which take up landfill space. This waste also puts strain on the environment by posing a water contamination and air pollution hazard.
The obvious solution is to sort and recycle waste and, beyond the environmental reasons, there are several very good reasons to become part of this robust global trend. For instance, recycling contributes to our national economy by conserving resources and reducing our dependence on virgin raw materials for manufacturing. It also drives enterprise development and alleviates poverty.
Every South African has a part to play in the recycling industry by following some fairly simple steps. The recycling value chain begins when household, residential complex, school and office waste is sorted into paper, plastic, glass, tins and “other” for easy recycling. This is easily achieved by setting out designated bins for each category of waste. The balance of the waste can be regarded as rubbish and disposed of into the traditional refuse bin.
Sorting makes it easier and more hygienic for the hawkers who go through rubbish bags left on the kerbside to retrieve cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and other waste material that they can sell on. These hawkers play a vital role in the recycling industry in South Africa, and in particular, the paper manufacturing value chain.
“The hawkers retrieve large quantities of discarded paper and cardboard waste and sell them by weight to our recycling buy-back centres,” says John Hunt, managing director of Mpact Recycling, the biggest paper recycler in South Africa. “The owners of these buy-back centres are typically small entrepreneurs who make a living by selling the recovered waste paper and increasingly, plastic, on to companies such as ours. Mpact Recycling alone collects approximately 450 000 tonnes of recovered paper per annum, and supplies this recovered fibre to our Group’s paper mills for processing into recycled-based cartonboard and containerboard for sale to South Africa’s packaging industry.”
Mpact Recycling is dedicated to encouraging and making it easy for South Africans from all walks of life to recycle. This is achieved through educational programmes on how to recycle, and by creating a demand for recycled material that effectively enables recycling where it might not otherwise have been possible.
“We guarantee to purchase all of the recovered paper from about 42 buy-back centres across the country,” says Noble. “The livelihood of both the hawkers and buy-back centre owners is therefore dependent on the volumes of waste paper that they are able to collect and sell.”
Mpact Recycling also conducts a popular kerbside paper collection initiative in more than 200,000 homes in 565 suburbs in designated areas within Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, effectively collecting unwanted magazines, newspapers and cardboard directly from people’s homes. Residents in these areas receive a green Ronnie bag in which to place their recycled material. The bags, left on the kerbside on designated days, are collected on a weekly basis and new green Ronnie bags are left for the next cycle.
Its other paper collection initiatives include deployment of its bright green paperbanks, or “Ronnie Banks” at waste paper drop-off points in schools, churches and community centres throughout the country.
Hunt concludes: “Every one of us has the potential to make a difference simply by separating and sorting our recyclables. At Mpact Recycling, we’re in the business of sustainability through our active contribution to job creation, economic value and environmental stewardship. The recycling industry contributes to the employment of over 100,000 South Africans and the sustainability of job creation in South Africa.”
More information about Mpact Recycling’s various recycling programmes is available at www.MpactRecycling.co.za or call the company’s free number 0800 022 112 for recycling related queries.
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