There were lots of residents in Kenton who embraced the recycling project. The decrease in volume of waste going into the Port Alfred and Alexandria landfill sites was immense.

You must have noticed the lack of black bags you put out for the dustmen; especially if you had compostable waste as well!

So what happened to our recycling initiative?

Despite massive impediments, Bushmans Recycling, which was implemented and is still being mentored by IWARS, is still operating the recycling facility in the Bushman Industrial Park.

 However:

• The DTI continues to withhold from IWARS the millions of ZAR promised in terms of the European Union’s “Employment Creation Fund.” No substantive reason being given.
• The absence of this funding has meant that the implementation of Bushmans Recycling and four other similar businesses is incomplete. As a consequence, the collections made weekly in the Kenton/Bushmans area have had to be suspended.
• The employment IWARS created has reduced to approximately 50 people from 600 over the four sites.
• China has put a near world-wide ban on the import of recycling plastic into China resulting in mountains of once “recyclable” plastics building up all over the world.
• In South Africa the price paid for used plastics has declined accordingly.
• Eskom switched off the electricity at the Bushmans site for 3 weeks in March. No reason given. IWARS had extreme difficulty getting the power switched on again.
• Kenton Spar now have their own arrangements for the disposal of their cardboard and plastic waste thus reducing Bushmans Recycling ability to reach critical mass.

It is imperative that we get our recycling back on track. Let’s take a look at what’s in the pipeline:

• Ndlambe Municipality are considering a ‘holistic’ proposal being prepared by Mr Marius Els who is currently contracted to do work on the Municipal dumpsite at Port Alfred. He apparently has the necessary funding in principal. However, the timeline for this to become operational appears to be at least 2 years.
• KOSRA is hoping to view a presentation of his plan in the near future.
• There is an additional recycling project proposal developed by a Kenton/Bushmans group being considered by Ndlambe Municipality in collaboration with a Canadian Aid Agency. The Canadians will not provide money but will offer training.
• At this stage no decision has been made as to possible recycling sites, although there is a general agreement that any new recycling facility must be totally enclosed.

In the meantime, the DTI has advised IWARS that the ‘Employment Creation Fund’ projects are about to be transferred back to Treasury. Hopefully, this will result in the release of the funding owed to IWARS.

Plus, you may have noticed that Noshipo, who runs the Bushmans Recycling company, has recently done a sterling job in cleaning up the area around the site. However, she is reluctant to go into the wetlands for fear of meeting up with some of the wildlife there!

But Willie and Glynis Coombs, of Riverbend, are planning to assist with this clean-up initiative and will be looking for volunteers in the near future. We will keep you posted!

KOSRA WORKING FOR YOU!