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ENVIRONMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: Story of a Recycler Bicycler
By Marina Penderis
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 13, 2005 (IPS) - Charles Mbiza's bicycle is more than a method
of transport. It's a metaphor for the state of rubbish collection in South
Africa's commercial hub, Johannesburg.
The bike - actually more of a large tricycle - is one of several that
were introduced to collect waste such as used paper cups during the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, held three years ago in Johannesburg.
That it's still being used by Mbiza to gather waste shows there is
awareness of the need for recycling. But, that he barely manages to make a
living doing so speaks volumes about how residents of this city have yet to
embrace proper waste management.
Mbiza covers about 185 households in a stretch of Johannesburg between
the up-market suburbs of Rosebank and Parkmore.
His work is part of a project founded by ward councillor Judy Stockill
which has the support of the local community association - and which won an
award for sustainability from the provincial government earlier this month.
Earthlife Africa, a non-profit environmental action group, has launched two
similar initiatives elsewhere in Johannesburg.
Unlike collectors who scrounge through rubbish bins, Mbiza tries to
convince home owners and domestic workers to sort waste material for
recycling, rather than simply throw it all into the bin.
Reaching people behind the high walls and electric fences erected by
crime-conscious residents is difficult, to say the least. But, Mbiza claims
this does not deter him. "If you come out of your house, I can get you. I
can talk very nicely sometimes," he laughs.
His determination and the acclaim given the project notwithstanding,
Mbiza says he is struggling to make ends meet. "I'm not earning enough for
myself, to tell the honest truth," he said in an interview with IPS.
Thandi O'Hagan, an environmental activist who works closely with Mbiza
and Stockill, says interviews with informal collectors of recyclable
material show they typically earn between two and 13 dollars a day.
According to Stockill, the project was based on the premise that one
person could earn a living collecting recyclable material from 200
households. A year after the project started, this has not proven to be the
case - as the volume of material is not sufficient.
"The problem with the recycling industry is that it is highly
volume-driven," says Jaco Human, glass recycling manger for a packaging
company, Consol South Africa.
And, the necessary volumes are difficult to obtain if people don't follow
Mbiza's good advice, and sort their rubbish for recyclable material
"Only so much can be extracted from the existing waste stream; about 90
percent of glass is captured in the domestic waste stream and is dropped in
landfill. The solution is to separate at source," says Human.
Similar sentiments are voiced by Ian Gwebu, who has run a centre that
buys back material to sell for recycling, for almost a decade.
"There is an opportunity in South Africa to increase the market for
recycled material. The reason it has not increased is connected to the
collection of recyclable material," he told IPS.
Instilling a city-wide culture of waste sorting presents a substantial
challenge, however.
"People think if it is easier to throw something into a bin, why should
they recycle?" Mabule Mokhine, also of Earthlife Africa, told IPS.
At least part of the problem seems to relate to the fact that
Johannesburg is still grappling with the after-effects of apartheid, which
left many black residents without services - or the money to help finance
them.
"It is well and fine to say people must start separating at source. Some
countries have done this successfully, some have not," says Gwebu, who
employs about 30 people to collect waste, while buying from some 500 more.
"I doubt it will be successful in South Africa. Municipalities are still
struggling to get people to pay rates and there is not yet (rubbish)
collection in some areas," he told IPS.
And so, much of the material sold to the buy-back centres is scrounged
from rubbish bins and landfill sights. There are more than a hundred such
centres in Johannesburg.
In 2003, a declaration was signed at a national waste summit that
committed South Africa to a 50 percent reduction in the amount of waste
being landfilled by 2012 - and zero waste by 2022.
JP Louw, a spokesperson for the Department for Environment and Tourism,
says government has already launched a successful drive to reduce the number
of plastic bags littering the landscape by making customers pay for many of
the bags.
But, there is still a way to go on this issue.
Les Venter, general manager for environmental management at
Johannesburg's waste collection agency, Pikitup, acknowledges that the
organisation's recycling activities are currently limited to support of
outside projects. More concerted efforts are on the horizon to ensure
compliance with the waste summit declaration, he adds. (END)
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