Non-profit organization, groundWork has partnered with the South African Waste Pickers Association to host a government officials zero waste exchange in the Vaal triangle this week.
The event, which is taking place from 21-22 November 2018, has gathered five local municipalities in collaboration with South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to share ideas on how the Polokwane Declaration of 2000 as well as the Waste Act 2008 can be best implemented in different municipalities.Engaging with municipalities
The exchange, which is the first of its kind, came about after groundWork armed with information from all its time spent working with informal waste pickers decided to turn its attention to municipalities. “As groundWork, we felt that the work has been done with waste pickers and now it is time to engage with municipalities,” explains Musa Chamane groundwork, Waste Campaigner. “South African Municipalities have been struggling to deal with waste issues; landfills are filling up quickly and are not being properly managed. Waste collection has also been a challenge. It has become clear that waste recycling is one way to go to overcome the current waste problem.Creating a conducive environment
“Government and industry have to create a conducive environment for recycling to happen. Materials Recovery Facilities should be a norm for every municipality. Separation at source should be encouraged even if its starts on a small scale it is something. A Zero Waste city such as California is currently diverting more than 75% of waste away from the landfill through reduce, reuse, recycling and composting.”During the exchange the Metsimaholo Local Municipality case study will be showcased. Through hard work and collaboration between waste pickers, the municipality and industry, separation at source of about 3000 households has been realised.
“The exchange will result in sharing of expertise and will culminate to meaningful recycling projects on the ground,” Chamane notes.
