Recycling News

- Imke Maeyer and Ellen Nicol -

After many months of anticipation and many mountains to climb, the recycling depot is open!

It is situated at the rubbish dump, constructed out of strong mesh to prevent the wind from blowing things away, and partly under cover. There is a key for the enclosure which is in the hands of the permanent employees at the dump.

At the moment we urge anyone and everyone that is interested to take their recyclable goods to the depot, until the waste management forum and municipality have worked out the exact logistics of collecting from peoples’ homes, and also of handing out of bags.

There are farmers feed bags available, and if you would like to make use of them, they can be collected at 19 Pastorie Street. These bags are sturdy, and can be reused several times.

It will be very helpful if goods are separated at home into glass, plastic, tins and paper. If this is not possible, the staff at the depot can sort your contribution, but they will be able to operate a much more efficient project if they receive mainly sorted material.

Please make sure that everything you recycle is clean - dirty tins or smelly old milk bottles are not recyclable! It is simple to clean these items, just wash them at the very end of your dishwashing, in that way you don't need to use extra water!

The aim is eventually to have various ways of handling the recycling:

1. one is just for interested people to take their own,
2. another is for the litter to be collected from peoples’ homes,
3. yet another is to collect from a central point on a certain day of the week, where people can bring their goods, and get paid (by weight) for their goods,
4. and lastly, we would like to start a system at school where the children bring recyclable goods and get rewarded for their efforts.

Please look out for more information as it becomes available, but in the meantime, let’s make use of the enclosure; the staff has attended a training course in Oudtshoorn and will be able to assist you when you get there!

Opening times at the enclosure are Monday to Friday from 8am until 5pm.