Saldanha Bay Municipality launches Recycling Enterprise and Education Project (REEP)
Saldanha Bay Municipality partnered with Pick n Pay and PETCO to support an innovative recycling pilot project in George Kerridge, Vredenburg.
Since 2016, the municipality’s kerbside recycling collection service has been running well, reaching over 40% participation of households in middle and upper-income suburbs. However, in high-density, lower-income areas, average participation is below 15%.
The Recycling Enterprise and Education Project (REEP) encourages residents in George Kerridge to participate in recycling by helping to feed a hungry child. In exchange for each bag of recyclables given by households to the mobile collector, a donation will be made to the Masiphathisane Primary School feeding fund.
Co-sponsoring the pilot with Pick n Pay’s ‘People and Planet’ sustainability programme, is PETCO, the plastics recycling organisation. PETCO sponsored a street trolley cart which the recycling collector will use to tour the area.
A donation to the school will be made on behalf of Pick n Pay for each bag of recyclables given to the collector. The collector is a resident of George Kerridge, hereby providing a local job creation component to the project.
As a pilot, the project will run for three to six months. If successful, the aim is to continue it and later expand to other areas of the municipality.
The REEP project aligns with the circular economy – diverting valuable waste materials from landfill into the recycling industry, reducing energy and resource use, and creating employment – while also helping to feed young learners at school.
Photographs:
- IMG_3059, Group photograph, from left to right: Mr Abubaker Nackerdien, Manager Solid Waste (SBM), Ms Busiswe Madlalisa, Pick n Pay REEP Project Recycling Collector, Councillor Tanduxolo Salman, Deputy Mayor, Councillor Eventhia Vaughan, Councillor Leonard Michell and Mr Donny Cyster, Wastegro
- IMG_3063, Ms Busiswe Madlalisa , Pick n Pay REEP Project Recycling Collector, with the PETCO-sponsored street trolley cart.
INCENTIVE PROJECT ENCOURAGES LOWER-INCOME AREAS TO PARTICIPATE IN RECYCLING
In Saldanha Bay Municipality, a new initiative encourages residents in lower-income areas to participate in recycling by feeding hungry schoolchildren in return. By Hugh Tyrrell*
Since it began in 2016, the kerbside recycling collection service operated by Saldanha Bay Local Municipality has been running well in middle and upper-income suburbs. Each week, householders put out their recyclable materials in a clear bag (provided free by the municipality), which is picked up on the same day as refuse removals. Participation by householders in these suburbs has reached over 40%. This is in line with international research showing that higher income and education corresponds with greater environmental awareness and action, including recycling. In the lower-income suburbs of the the municipality, the recycling participation rate is below 15%. Many of those who do not participate, however, would understand the value of recyclable packaging materials, as they form part of the purchase price of groceries and other items they buy. There is reasonable reluctance to part with their recyclables without some form of compensation in return.
Saldanha Bay Municipality’s Incentive project features in “ReSource” magazine
Saldanha Bay Municipality’s Incentive project encouraging lower-income areas to participate in recycling featured in the August 2021 edition of the ReSource magazine (see attached pdf). ReSource is the Official Journal of the Institute of Waste Management in South Africa.
