The City of Joburg’s implementation of a new ‘separation at the source’ programme will see residents fight pollution but what about informal recyclers?
Every bin day, you see these men and women digging through the bins to collect recyclable goods but what does the new separation at the source programme mean for these individuals?
As we discussed last week, the City of Johannesburg is implementing a new mandatory ‘separation at the source’ programme that will see residents of Joburg helping fight pollution and work towards better use of landfill space. They are rolling it out in phases starting from the 1st of July 2018.
Many people use bin day as a way to make an honest living in South Africa. Thanks to recycling programmes, informal recyclers are paid for goods they collect and so, many items are recycled vs. ending up in a landfill.
Thanks to the support of Government, the Paper Recycling Association of South Africa (PRASA) is able to offer training to these men and women, enabling them to start thriving businesses. In 2017, SA reached its 2020 paper recycling goals all thanks to programmes like this one.
The training offered to the informal recyclers includes introductory business training, working on finances, business communication as well as understanding the different paper grades from the cardboard boxes, office paper, news and magazines also including milk and juice cartons and paper cups.
There have been 6000 collectors trained over the last 10 years. The course is 4 days and free for people working in the informal sector. Each course needs a minimum of 40 people. The next course is due to take place in Ekurhuleni, the date is still to be confirmed.
For more information, you can email anele.sololo@pamsa.co.za or call (011) 803 5063.
By separating at the source, the jobs these people do becomes easier. And they do it for free! The informal sector saves you having to pay for the service and you directly contribute to someone else’s livelihood.
Remember that dry and clean paper is much better than paper covered in dustbin mess. So start keeping your paper in a clean bag and put it out when you take out your bins and keep all your other recyclables clean.
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