Recycling project aims to create jobs

A NEW recycling plant which has been approved for operation near Ezibeleni, is hoping to create jobs.

Cannibal Recycling Company, which specialises in collecting and recycling plastic and glass bottles, is due to make its new home in a factory, representative Leon van der Watt said. Collection will take place in Ezibeleni, Ilinge and Cala and materials can be dropped off at the plant.

Van der Watt said it was the sound of an empty bottle that was thrown into a bin at his friend’s pub that got him thinking about how he could make a living out of glass.

“We have 500 000 registered clients on our pay roll, who earn on a weekly or monthly basis.”

The company would identify people with a passion for recycling and they would be helped to establish their own buy-back centres, which would enable them to buy from community members in their areas.

The company supplied centres with equipment to process the materials.

Bottle banks will be placed within the Komani CBD for glass and a recycle station will be established.

“We have projects across the Eastern Cape. In Whittlesea people collected more than 34 tons, and we do our training in isiXhosa.”

Other projects underway include teaching people to make furniture out of scrap wood.