To address the scourge of litter and illegal dumping in the Kensington and Factreton areas, the Kenfac Residents and Ratepayers Association (KFRRA), launched a recycling project as the first of its new Incubator programmes.
This initiative empowers 18 young people from Kensington Factreton with practical training in waste management and entrepreneurship, laying the foundation for sustainable employment.
Mariam Oliver, project coordinator for the KFRRA, says the project is a partnership between Astral and Insignis Solutions who sponsored the initiative.
“Illegal dumping is s huge challenge in the area. We know in the rest of the province landfills are filling up. This Incubator programme marks the beginning of KFRRA’s broader efforts to develop local youth and drive community-driven initiatives.”
Oliver explains that about 40 young people from Garden Village, Maitland, Kensington and Factreton did a baseline assessment. From which 20 were selected. Two have since found permanent employment and dropped out.
“Thirteen of them were in matric last year. They were unemployed and didn’t know what they wanted to do, through this initiative they were employed and became breadwinners in their homes.
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According to Oliver, the group completed a 12-month learnership programme.
“They are being paid a monthly stipend. They did a theory on waste management aspects. They did their practical training at five different companies where they got exposed to the different types of recycling commodities.”
She says they are in the process of setting up a buy-back centre
“The group will continue to run it as a business, they sustain it and be paid from it as well.”
The group started collecting residents’ recycled items from yesterday (30 September).
“They have been visiting residents to introduce themselves and gave them bags and explained what recyclable items are and how we want to collect it. We already have a company that will be buying from us.”
She says they are currently stationed at the Kensington Civic Centre and appeals to the community to get involved.
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Items being collected include plastic (cooldrink bottle and containers), cardboards and glass.
“We are asking the community to support. We just want their recyclables. This initiative helps to uplift and employ young people.”
She explains that they will be collecting on various days.
“We have a roster so that we don’t clash with usual refuse collection days. If refuse is collected on a Monday, then we will collect recyclables on a Tuesday.”
Drop-off points
Oliver says they have also engaged with certain schools that will be central drop off points.
These schools are: Hidayatul Islam Primary School, Factreton Primary, St John’s Primary, Windermere Primary and Wingfield Primary.
Brady Brown (20) says the programme taught them valuable lessons.
“It taught us how to engage in leadership roles and capabilities, and I can say from my experience everyone who has stayed and kept strong throughout this programme gained this ability to be able to be a great leader and work as a team. Thus increased our business knowledge and skills to ensure and equip us to be able to run a recycling programme.”
According to Brown, this will assist them with future development.
“Being able to move forward in this, we will be creating new job opportunities for people in our community, some of the learners in this program were unemployed, and people who has just left school, this program helped us all to be able to support our families.”
Brown encourages other young people to also get involved.
“This programme doesn’t just let you get into the business world and teachings, it builds character and how we as people from the community can come together and push the youth to a broader horizon of being by each other’s side, I encourage young people to take charge of their life’s and be able to make a change not in just in our community but to the whole of South Africa.”
Kouthar Idas (18) said: “I’ve learned that communication plays an important role especially when working as a team. One of the best things I’ve learned throughout this course is that when you adapt to change it allows new opportunities and different perspectives. I am grateful that I joined the course because it allowed me to be myself and embrace who I am.”
