Minister of the Department of Environment and Fisheries, Forestry Barbara Creecy has shown support for the conversion of yoghurt tubs into lightweight bricks to build school desks following the successful year-long project in 2021 when 19 tons of plastic from yoghurt containers were transformed into learning equipment from the One Desk One Child programme, Nutriday’s Tubs2Classrooms project with partners Pick ‘n Pay and Interwaste.

NutriDay is set out to educate 80 identified primary schools about responsible plastic recycling. Children will reportedly be encouraged to clean and bring used yoghurt tubs to school. These tubs will be turned into lightweight bricks to build two classrooms by the end of 2022.

“What better way to prove that waste has value, than to convert used yoghurt tubs into bricks to build much-needed classrooms for our communities,” states Minister Creecy. 

Minister Creecy further stated that the achievement of a circular economy is directly reliant on the collaboration between the government and the private sector.  “The DFFE would like to extend its support and appreciation for the waste beneficiation efforts made by Danone in collaboration with its partners. Spurred on by the new regulations, companies are committed to designing packaging for recyclability and encouraging recycling,” Creecy said.

“Our project is geared towards doing just this, and we welcome the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations which aim to protect the planet’s resources. As a company that has made a commitment of zero waste to landfill by 2030 and 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, our Tubs2Classrooms project addresses responsible end of life usage of yoghurt tubs, delivering on our promise to protect the planet,” said Leanne Kiezer, Corporate Affairs Manager at Danone Southern Africa. 

“Danone is a purposeful business driving change for the health of people and the health of the planet. Our Tubs2Classrooms project aims to collect and repurpose close to half a million tubs this year, which is five times more than that of the previous campaign,” said Leanne Kiezer. “At Danone we believe that healthy food needs a healthy planet. Therefore, Nutriday, our flagship brand boasting its best recipe yet (with essential vitamins A, B, D, E and zinc), is leading this Tubs2Classrooms initiative” concluded Kiezer.