Separation of waste pilot project in westering pioneers way forward
Published: April 01, 2022<< BACK TO NEWS
With the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s landfill sites running out capacity to store waste, the City’s Public Health Mayoral Committee Member, Cllr Thsonono Buyeye, has commended the hundreds of residents in Westering who are taking part in the Separation at Source recycling project, as more than 300 new registrations were completed this month.
The City launched the S@S recycling pilot project in October 2021 in Ward 9 in an effort to divert waste from the two landfill sites in Walmer and Kariega that are currently under pressure due to space limitations.
MMC Buyeye said: "We have a total of 350 new registrations of households in the Westering area where we are piloting the project. Good progress has been made, as we until recently only had 395 households taking part. This now gives us a total of 755 registered households. We want to see more households taking part in this great initiative, as the plan is to expand the project to other areas too.”
"We are providing the participating households with yellow plastic bags so that they can separate the recyclables from general waste. The waste is collected on Fridays and taken to the service provider that we are working with: this: The Waste Trade Company. Ultimately this creates jobs as there are people who are employed to further separate the waste into the different categories. We really need our residents to start caring for our environment and play their part in the environmental projects we are implementing.”
Buyeye urged the unregistered residents of Westering and Linton Grange to register on www.nelsonmandelabay.gov.za to push the current 38% participation rate to more than 40% for the City to get good results from the pilot project.
Participating resident Trudi Schuin-Dorfling, 47, said: "I am very happy to be part of the project as I am passionate about conserving the environment. I think it is up to us as residents to save our City and country by playing our part. This project does not require much work, it is something we can all do in our homes involving our children to make a difference. It does not cost me anything, I get the plastics from the Municipality and would like to encourage Westering residents to take part as diverting waste from the landfill sites can add more lifespan to them.”
Another resident Thomas Horne, 80, said he was very happy to be part of the pilot project that also seeks to create jobs.
"I think everyone who care about the environment should take part. It can not be right that waste lands up in the ocean when it could have been reused or recycled. As Westering residents we are the ones who should run with this as the trailblazers. Others must learn lessons from us, it can be done,” he said.
Since the project began, a total of 13 057kg of waste has been diverted from the two main landfill sites, at a monthly average of 2176kg.
Through the pilot project, the City is collecting data and a model will be designed for the expansion of the project in other areas.
Residents are encouraged to email to wmeu@mandelametro.gov.za or phone 041 506 2833, should they have any comment/feedback or queries or visit the ‘My Waste’ webpage on the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality website to register and obtain more information: https://www.nelsonmandelabay.gov.za/page/my-waste
Ends.
Issued by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Communications Office.
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