BCM’S big cleanup campaign

Waste buy-back centres and beautification programmes will help change face of city

Buffalo City Metro is pulling out all the stops to clean up the city and, in the process, provide hundreds of jobs and reduce pressure on landfill sites.

The city is rolling out buy-back centres and beautification programmes and employing workers to collect recyclable waste. With the help of the Buffalo City Municipality Development Agency (BCMDA) and Border Kei Chambers of Business (BKCOB), 653 new jobs will be created.

According to BCMDA spokesperson Oyama Makalima, the Border-kei Chamber of Commerce, as part of the partnership, will be chipping in with funding for the employment of 146 workers who will mainly be working in the buy-back centres.

The chamber’s workers will focus on the “Call to Action” programme.

BCMDA will fund jobs for 200 employees on six-month contracts with money from National Treasury. These jobs will also include grass and shrub cutting.

In addition, 307 people will be employed as “waste foot soldiers” and will help collect recyclable waste while also cleaning the city’s streets.

Last week, the city held a sod-turning ceremony for its third waste recycling buyback centre in Duncan Village.

“The Duncan Village Programme, the Integrated Waste and Beautification Programme and the All Hands on Waste Programme are all geared at advancing the metro’s growth strategy that places creating clean and functional spaces as essential for citizen service delivery and improved living standards,” Makalima said.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: “The 307 employees represent the Duncan Village programme, which employs 71 participants.

“In the yet-to-be officially launched Integrated Waste Management and Beautification programme, 236 jobs will be created throughout the metro.”

The temporary buy-back centre will operate in Duncan Village until a permanent structure is complete. Building starts in February.

BCM mayor Xola Pakati said: “We have focused on the cleanliness of the city and ensuring the residents of Duncan Village are able to gain employment.

“We will have a dedicated focus on waste management, particularly the removal of illegal dumps and regular street cleaning.”

Ngwenya explained a buy-back centre was for buying, sorting and reselling recyclable waste.

“The metro has two operating buy-back centres — one in Southernwood and the East London CBD as well as the mobile one in Duncan Village.”

“Other buy-back centres are to be opened in Gonubie, Quigney, Beacon Bay, Settlers Way, Mdantsane and Qonce,” he said.

Ngwenya said buy-back centres helped to keep the city clean because the incentive received by those selling their recyclables showed the value of waste.

“So, waste that was going to end up polluting the environment or disposed of in a landfill is taken back to product manufacturing systems through recycling processes.”

The project targets the cleaning of public spaces, the CBD and refuse hotspots including Quigney, Southernwood, Nompumelelo, Mzamomhle, Beacon Bay, Bhisho, Ntabozuko, and Mdantsane’s NU1.

Border-kei Chamber of Business CEO Lizelle Maurice said they became involved with the project because BCM was a critical partner in business as they created a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.

“We had complaints of the dirt of the city, of how dirty the city is but [we also got involved] to encourage a culture of recycling within the city,” she said.

Maurice said job creation was a motivation for the creation of buy-back centres.

She said since they started the project last year, they had managed to divert over 300 tonnes of waste from landfill sites.

“Part of this buy-back centre initiative is to put cash back in the hands of the recycler by means of an e-voucher,” she said.

Recyclers get their waste weighed at the centres, after which they get paid through a voucher, which they can use to withdraw the money or pay for shopping.

The Daily Dispatch visited one of the centres based in Southernwood.

The centre has hired 20 employees on a six-month contract at R175 a day.

They also collect waste on the streets of East London and in doing so earn extra cash.

The most prized items are cans, which can score R7 per kg, followed by white office paper at R1.25 per kg, soft drink containers and mayonnaise jars at R1.20 a kg.

The Dispatch caught up with Ayanda Dutywa, a 51-year-old former part-time amaphela [informal taxi] driver who joined the programme.

“I go to the streets with a bag. We clean and we recycle,” he said.

Siyabulela Funani, 44, said they sort through rubbish bags placed for the municipal truck before they are collected and pick out what can be recycled.

Funani said their main problem on the streets was amaphara who picked through rubbish bags outside peoples’ homes but left a mess, which defeated the purpose of the exercise.

A family from Beacon Bay who arrived with bags full of recyclables said they were new to recycling.

“I just saw this place passing by and I came to ask.

“This is the first time I am coming with a load,” Pheliswa Khupha said.

Ngwenya said the metro was focused on beautifying the city and was clearing illegal dumping hotspots like Buffalo Pass and targeting cleanliness at the city’s entrances.

“We are hard at work changing the image of our city into one that citizens can take pride in,” Ngwenya said.