The DA joins the international community in celebrating Global Recycling Day

by Cllr. Amanda Davison — DA Member of the Environment, Resource and Waste Management in Ekurhuleni

Date: 18 March 2022

Release: Immediate

Type: Media statement

The Democratic Alliance in Ekurhuleni celebrates Global Recycling Day and recognises the important role that recycling plays in our communities and the contribution that the industry makes to economic upliftment in converting waste into reusable material.

Recycling is critical to offsetting the negative impact that waste has on the natural environment. Not only are harmful chemicals and greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, but our natural waterways, rivers and dams are filling up with harmful waste on a regular basis. Recycling helps to reduce this harmful pollution and reduces the need for raw materials so that our natural resources can be preserved.

The DA understands the critical need for recycling initiatives in local government as a contributor to the green economy and a strategy to combat climate change. A key part of this is the management of the City’s five landfill sites, which are a huge cost to the Metro. Unrecycled waste hastens the filling up of these landfill sites reducing their lifespan, thereby placing undue spatial pressure on the City to provide alternative locations for dumping. A failure to do so leads to an increase in illegal dumping.

The DA is pleased to note that the City is reviving the “waste to energy” project at the landfill sites, where methane gas is used to produce energy. The first project is currently being revived at the Simmer & Jack landfill site in Germiston. Should the project be successful it will be rolled out to the rest of the City’s landfill sites.

In addition, the City is embarking on multiple recycling education and awareness projects in schools and informal settlements, which include campaigns aimed at highlighting the negative effects of illegal dumping on communities and the positive contribution that recycling plays on offsetting the harmful effects of climate change.

The DA urges the City to investigate and adopt new solutions to deal with waste management that are sustainable, and not only contribute to the greening of the economy, but also build new industries that promote job creation. These include implementing the following recycling initiatives that have successfully been adopted elsewhere:

• Separation at source, where residents are encouraged to separate their waste at home into non-recyclable and recyclable waste as designated by different colour bags, following from which recyclers can easily identify recyclable waste. This is similar to the City of Johannesburg’s “blue bags” practice.
• The establishment of recycling stations at mini dump sites and transfer stations to facilitate the recycling process.

These initiatives, as well as the City’s recycling plans that have kicked off under the administration of the Multi-Party Coalition, will go a long way to increasing the adoption of recycling practice and harnessing the positive impacts that the practice has on our local communities.

Cllr. Amanda Davison

DA Member of the Environment Resource and Waste Management in Ekurhuleni