Supermarket staff make short work of litter

Global Recycling Day on March 18 witnessed more than 600 employees from Shoprite, Checkers and Usave stores in the Eastern Cape out on the streets cleaning their communities and removing more than 750 bags of litter.

The initiative forms part of local businesses attempts to develop the areas and communities in which they operate.

Commercial enterprises play a key role in maintaining local economies and as service delivery weakens in parts of the Eastern cape, businesses frequently find themselves having to play a more proactive role in maintaining the cities and towns in which they operate.

In Qonce, relied on businesses such as Checkers, Shoprite and Usave are cornerstones of the livelihood of many locals.

Shoprite, a leader among the three in terms of social development initiatives, has operated in SA for the last 40 years.

Historically, this has meant prioritising job creation and a commitment to keeping SA’s development at the forefront of business values, which has prompted the retailer to invest more time and energy into campaigns focused on cleaning and maintaining local infrastructure, in addition to skills development and employment.

Angelique Wagner, corporate relations & communications department officer for Shoprite in the Eastern Cape said: “Shoprite is no stranger to hosting clean-ups in the communities in which it trades.

“It hosted Africa’s Biggest Clean-up in 2018 and since then has regularly supported clean-up events across South Africa.”

Wagner said the supermarket chain took pride in community projects and for 2022 at least, recycling would be the premise on which most of its communityorientated initiatives would be focused.