GOLD IN JUNK
Learn to make a fortune from what people discard
“LAD, where there’s muck [waste] there’s brass [money]!’. My father, who was a Yorkshireman, used to quote this old Yorkshire saying,” says Dr Alan Carter, executive at EOH Coastal & Environmental Services and chairman of the East London waste disposal site monitoring committee.
“His words hold true today, except that now it is far easier than ever to turn trash into cash, and also to enjoy a range of other benefits that come from managing waste better.”
For most, waste is a case of out of sight, out of mind. However, there is growing awareness of what happens to our waste – and the opportunities it brings to make money, as well as a positive difference in our communities.
In the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) region, a group of proactive businesses and associations have joined forces through the Call-2-Action initiative to create a clean and green city.
The initiative is being implemented through two projects: increased recycling, and better management of landfill sites.
Recycling earns cash, reduces waste and creates jobs
“I have visited numerous landfill dump sites throughout the Eastern Cape, and I am always struck by how much of the waste comprises recyclable materials, such as glass bottles, metal cans and cardboard,” comments Carter, who has extensive experience in landfill and waste management both in South Africa and the US.
He explains that recycling waste delivers three important benefits to communities:
● Recyling unlocks the economic value of waste by allowing businesses and residents to turn their trash into cash, creating new jobs, and conserving and re-using resources;
● Recyling reduces the costs of waste disposal by reducing the volume of expensive landfill space required; and
● Recycling helps to curb human and environmental health risks created by pollution generated by landfills.
Says Invest Buffalo City coordinator Drayton Brown: “To make it easy for businesses and residents to recycle and to turn their trash into cash, Call-2Action has established a recycling buyback centre at the Oriental Plaza, in North End. This facility buys back waste from the community, and receives waste collected from the Call-2Action clean-up project.”
This initiative also supports one of the goals of the National Waste Management Strategy (2011): to divert 25% of recyclables from landfills through waste minimisation, re-use, recycling and recovery.
In addition, it will also support separation-at-source programmes, which all metropolitan municipalities should initiate to grow the contribution of the waste sector to the green economy, where an estimated 100 000 new jobs could be created.
Better landfill management reduces costs, curbs pollution Explains Carter: “There are numerous “dump” sites throughout the Eastern Cape which are no more than big holes dug on open land, where dumped waste lies uncovered until burnt. These are often located close to or even within water courses, posing a significant human and environmental health risks.
To keep our communities clean, green and safe, the Call-2-Action initiative is also driving better landfill management in the city.
The initiative involves bringing local waste disposal and the construction of landfill sites in line with the strict standards established in environmental and waste legislation, based on international best practice.
Join the movement to a Clean and Green Buffalo City
Carter has invited businesses and residents to join Call-2-Action and help create a Clean and Green Buffalo City.
For more information, visit https://call2actionweb.wordpress.com/
or the recycling buy-back centre at the Oriental Plaza in North End. —