Whether understanding of the plight of bin pickers or tired of the mess that some tend to leave behind on pavements, recycling has been placed on the table as a solution that will benefit both reclaimers and residents.
Regenize, a recycling collection service, asks for the public to support waste pickers on their website. It describes waste pickers as people who “earn their living through scavenging from the disposed goods, waste and general garbage produced by formal dwellings”. It also states that bin pickers are at the forefront of driving the recycling rate in South Africa to 7.5%. The problem, the service says, is how they are recovering the waste – scavenging through refuse bins and landfills.
According to Regenize, not only are they exposed to disease and illnesses, waste pickers experience theft, harassment, assault and at times unfair remuneration for their hard work.
“By recycling, we can create an ecosystem where waste pickers are supported by means of access to household recyclable waste at source, uniforms, sorting space, safe payment and training in life and finance management,” reads its website.
A memorandum, dated 25 August 2021 and signed by Solid Waste Management director Rustim Keraan, also underscores the role waste pickers play in diverting waste from landfill by selling the recyclables to buyback centres in Cape Town.
According to the memorandum, waste pickers have been estimated to save municipalities approximately R700 million per year in collection and disposal costs.
Rise in concerns
The City has stated that the two-year National State of Disaster and related economic impact has led to “unmatched levels” of homelessness in the city.
Yunus Karriem, chair of the Wynberg East Civic Association (Weca), says you can see a direct correlation between the increase in the number of the people who pick bins and the increase in the unemployment rate, as well as the increase in people living on the streets.
Karriem says every week they receive complaints of rubbish being left on the streets and pavements after bins have been rifled through. Residents also claim that bins are being stolen to cart around items and that the streets are being roamed by people who pretend to be reclaimers but who are actually there to suss out homeowners’ movements or for opportunistic crime.
Salwa Beukes, chair of Wynberg East Neighbourhood Watch (WENHW), says they keep reminding residents to put out their bins on the morning of collection day and not the night before. She says people walk the streets the evening before bin day – all through the night.
“Many come from Parkwood and surrounding areas, some even camp out streets, waiting for bins to be put out. I find that I am unable to get any rest on bin day because I am always watching bin pickers.”
Beukes says many residents do the right thing by sharing posts on social media of rubbish left scattered next to bins.
“But then they fail to report it to the authorities, such as Law Enforcement, or flagging it on the City of Cape Town’s C3 Platform,” she says.
Karriem says recycling has been encouraged for a long time in the area with some residents adhering to the call.
“But not everyone. It will help if everyone or a very large majority do recycle their recyclables. In this way, it will hopefully reduce bin picking. Other than that, there seems to be no clear-cut solution,” he says.
Beukes says WENHW encourages residents to take ownership.
“Residents are reminded regularly to discard unwanted goods by dropping it off at the recycling depot in Rosmead Avenue and not to place it in the garbage bin.”
She says there was some talk last year of getting and placing coloured recycling bins at a dedicated spot in Wynberg East.
“But like most projects without anyone pulling the horse, the chatter died before it could go anywhere.”
Already overburdened with projects, Beukes says she would love for someone from the community to step-up and reach out.
“I think lots can be achieved if we stand together and pull our weight. I will get involved and support this initiative. WENHW is well aware that if you take care of the grime, you simultaneously take care of the crime,” she says.
Think Twice programme
The City’s free door-to-door recycling collection programme, Think Twice, for homes and businesses is currently offered in selected areas around Cape Town.
While the service is not yet available in Wynberg, Ward 63 councillor Carmen Siebritz says she and her fellow southern suburb ward councillors are campaigning for the programme to be rolled out in their respective suburbs as well.
The programme encourages residents to use two bags – placing the recyclable material into one bag and the non-recyclable waste into the other bag. The bag with the recyclable material is then placed on the pavement outside for the City’s kerbside collection service provider to come and collect.
Siebritz says residents in Ward 63 are asking for recycling bins and or sites to be made available in their respective areas.
“I fully support their call. The more we recycle, the less garbage winds up in our landfills and incineration plants.”
She says it is time to change not just the way we do things, but the way we think.
“If residents are not throwing away any of their old products and instead utilising it for something new, they are actually recycling.
“When thinking of recycling, we should really think about the whole idea; reduce, reuse and recycle.”
Making a difference
According to a national waste information baseline report published by the National Department of Environmental Affairs in 2012, 90% of an estimated 59 million tonnes of general waste produced in South Africa in 2011 ended up in landfills, while only 10% was recycled.
Claremont resident Penny Owens is trying to push up this percentage by getting others to recycle. On a local safety and security WhatsApp group, she regularly reminds residents to recycle as much as possible. She says the message seems to have gotten through to a number of residents as she sees more recycling bags out, ready for collection, every week.
“The amount of plastic and cardboard packaging we throw away is appalling; this shouldn’t land up in landfills rather be recycled to make useful items,” says Owens.
To all those who might be put off recycling because they think it’s complicated or a schlep, Owens says it really isn’t.
“All household waste can be divided into two categories – perishable and non-perishable. All vegetable and fruit peels can be put into a compost bin (the City gives them to homeowners who want them), all leftover meat and bones should be placed in a packet in the freezer until bin day – this stops flies and maggots in the heat of summer.
“All clean plastic, tin, cardboard, glass and paper can be recycled – they do not need to be separated but do need to be clean.”
. WENHW has launched a project to combat the theft of black council bins. For R20, residents are supplied with a sticker that includes a reference number which is logged onto a database for the neighbourhood watch to track and identify stolen bins.
For more information, contact Beukes on 083 343 7408.
