The Masihlule Project, an initiative of the Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) for the Makana Municipality, was launched on the 2nd of March this year, allowing Grahamstown residents to have recyclable materials collected from their homes.
The Masihlule Project, an initiative of the Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) for the Makana Municipality, was launched on the 2nd of March this year, allowing Grahamstown residents to have recyclable materials collected from their homes.
The Masihlule Project is a public private partnership between the Department of Social Development, Makana Municipality and local recycling businesses, and aims to reduce our carbon footprint while helping to employ local residents needing work.
Recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard, tins, cans, and bottles are placed in an orange or clear refuse bag, and are collected along with your normal refuse bags.
Local recycling businesses then pay the Masihlule Project sorters according to the weight of the materials collected, plus 10% which goes to the project itself.
"People have responded amazingly well though there have been problems," said Angie Thomson of the Masihlule Project.
She said there have been discrepancies between the number of orange and clear bags that are picked up, and the number that arrive at the dump site.
"People are at the waste site looking for things such as tins, and they know they can find these in the orange bags, so often the bags are torn open and the contents strewn before we can get to it," she said.
Scouring efforts
The project also made huge efforts to encourage recycling during this year’s Arts Festival, with recycling bins available as well as a stall to inform locals of the project.
The project enlisted the help of three Masihlule employees to clean up the Village Green once all the festival-goers had left the town.
Despite the problems, Thomson said that they have "grand plans" and that they "have had incredible support from the municipality", who have cleared the site for the project, and supply the site with water and electricity.
A new, larger transformer has also been ordered in order to allow the site to operate its more heavy-duty machinery, and they also have plans to extend their storeroom, allowing them to create office and ablution facilities.
Thomson hopes to collaborate with the junior Rotarians in attracting more local businesses and restaurants to work with the project, helping prevent food waste as well as explaining the benefits of recycling.
"It takes a while to get peoples’ heads right, but there are ways and means and we just have to improve", said Thomson.
