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Recycling waste paper is an environmentally friendly activity that just about anyone can take part in. Paper recycling saves water and electricity, and prevents unnecessary chemicals being introduced into the environment, which impacts climate change.
Recycling also prevents landfills being filled up with waste paper. In fact, for every 1 ton of paper recycled, 3 cubic metres of landfill are 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.**
“Paper consumed in homes, schools and offices represents a big opportunity to grow paper recycling in South Africa,” says John Hunt, managing director of Mpact Recycling, the biggest paper recycler in South Africa. “In Boksburg we’re making it easy for people to recycle their used paper with weekly kerbside collections and strategically placed ‘Ronnie Bank’ paper banks at many sites around the city.”
Householders can discard any form of paper, such as old letters, photocopying paper, newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, books and envelopes, as well as flattened cardboard boxes (like cereal boxes) into the Ronnie bags. Items that cannot be recycled include polystyrene containers, paper cups and plates, yoghurt cartons, sweet and chip wrappers, blueprint paper, cigarette butts, carbon paper, tissues and paper towels, Post-it notes and waxed cartons, such as frozen fish cartons. These items generally contain plastics, grease and other compounds that cannot be recycled to produce cartonboard and newsprint.
Boksburg residents who take part in Mpact Recycling’s popular kerbside paper collection initiative receive a green Ronnie bag in which to place their recycled material. The bags are collected every Monday from the kerbside outside their homes and a green Ronnie bag is left in its place for the coming week.
Local recyclers are also invited to drop off their used paper products at one of Mpact Recycling’s paper banks. These igloo-shaped banks are placed in locations throughout the community, where anyone can deposit wastepaper. Ronnie Banks are currently located at Laerskool Westwood; Boschendal; St Michaels Anglican Church; Boksburg High School; Martin School; Hoerskool Dr EG Jansen; Laerskool Witfield and NG Kerk Impala Park.
“In addition, we encourage schools to enrol in our paper pick-up programme, which allows them to raise funds, while educating young learners on the importance of recycling and in turn, environmental awareness,” Hunt adds.
Each learner is provided with a small Ronnie Bag to take home and fill up with recyclable paper based items. They bring these bags back to school every week and place the waste material into a dedicated Ronnie Bank, which is collected on a regular basis. Hunt says this initiative has a positive effect at several levels. Not only does it provide a vehicle to dispose of waste paper and cardboard from the learners’ homes, but it also creates excitement around recycling and getting the school involved. The programme also educates the next generation on the importance of recycling, so that they will be conscientious recyclers as adults. Ultimately, it helps to prevent landfills being filled up with waste paper.
Mpact Recycling collects approximately 450 000 tonnes of recovered paper per annum, and supplies this recovered fibre to the group’s paper mills for processing into recycled-based cartonboard and containerboard for sale to South Africa’s packaging industry.
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.
* Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (PRASA.)
** Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA)
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