GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — Plastic items offer a lot of convenience for consumers, but all that waste is now posing a problem.
Residents are encouraged to recycle to keep waste such as plastic bottles from ending up in the rivers, oceans, and landfills where it can take centuries to decompose or as litter on the streets.
Graaff-Reinet Recyclers are situated at 6 Factory Street in Graaff-Reinet's industrial area.
About 120 people are employed there - some every day, others not so regularly.
Gerhard Potgieter, the proprietor of the business, began this endeavour by giving the people living at the old landfill site employment.
Today it is a big business sending trucks of baled refuse to Johannesburg every week.
On an average day, the warehouse in Factory Street is a hive of activity - residents bring in clear bags of cleanly recycled goods, huge bags packed with cardboard boxes from the supermarkets are being offloaded outside, Nikkie Ndona is moving a bale of plastic and Wynand Harding is weighing copper wire brought in for sale.
Around the walls are bins and bags for specific items: different kinds of bottles and tins, metal, milk cartons and plastic bags. Outside at the back, a worker is cutting up an old geyser with an angle grinder.
Harding spoke about residents who bring in recyclable material. According to him, an individual who brings in four sacks of plastic bottles in a day can earn up to R40 a day for their efforts.
Potgieter, who has a 6-month contract with the Beyers Naudé Local Municipality to control the landfill site, is passionate about recycling, saying,"Together we can make a difference and keep the landfill site free from recyclable items polluting our environment."
Clear bags are provided at the warehouse in Factory Street to the public (or contact 082 921 7142 to organise bags) and are collected from the front of your house in Graaff-Reinet on a weekly basis.
The schedule is as follows:
- North of Somerset Street (including Cypress Grove) on Monday mornings.
- Somerset Street and the streets to the south on Wednesday mornings.
- Reinet Park, Spandauville and Bergendal on Tuesday mornings.
Plans are being made to collect recycling in other areas.
Some collectors of recyclable goods phone the business so that the truck can be sent. Good money can be earned. Some schools and churches bring material to Factory Street to earn project funds.
Remembering, recycling is everyone's responsibility.
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