REDUCE, reuse, recycle is what National Recycling Day is all about.
Taking place during Clean-up SA week, which also involves a coastal clean-up on Saturday, Zululanders will be kept busy beautifying our environment.
The aim of the day is to increase awareness by educating the community on the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling.
Recycling is the process of separating, collecting and re-manufacturing or converting used or waste products into new materials.
The recycling process involves a series of steps to produce new products. Recycling helps extend the life and usefulness of something that has already served its initial purpose by producing something that is useable. Recycling has a lot of benefits and importance not only to us humans but especially to our planet.
However recycling for your average suburban household in South Africa is a bit of a schlep. The infrastructure for collecting recyclable material is not really in place yet. A good start is for households to separate their rubbish and take the recyclables to a drop-off centre or a buy-back centre because in Zululand there’s not much in the way of kerbside collection.
Recyclable items range from metals such as tin and cans, glass bottles and jars as well as paper, plastic and tetrapak. Rechargeable batteries are also recyclable, however disposable batteries, pyrex and ceramics can not.
According Mpact communications manager, Donna Noble, there are a number of igloo-shaped banks placed in locations throughout Zululand, where anyone can deposit wastepaper.
‘Last year we recycled some 460,000 tonnes of paper, or the equivalent of 552 filled Olympic swimming pools. All this paper is used in the manufacture of recycle-based paper and packaging, which reduces the reliance on virgin fibre’.
Where are the local collection points?
Richards Bay: Richards Bay High School, Richards Bay SPCA and Richards Bay Primary School.
Empangeni: Leisure Gardens, Builders Market and the University of Zululand, as well as a point outside Mtunzini Primary School.
We really do not take recycling seriously in Zululand. I separate my glass and plastics and paper and take them myself to the Alton depot every second week. That in itself is a mission as there are no clearly separated drop of spots (outside of the massive pile of glass bottles). One one visit I asked the guy where I could drop off the plastic. He laughed at me and said, “take it home and put it into the dustbin” …. sad….