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Environmental News

Retailer pilots South Africa’s first in-store recycling vending machine

By: Simone Liedtke 10th August 2018 In line with its commitment to achieving zero packaging waste to landfill by 2022, retailer Woolworths has launched the customer trial of an integrated reverse vending machine in its flagship green store, Woolworths Palmyra, in Claremont. This, Woolworths says, is good news for the many South... →

Government considering ban on microbeads after Gauteng drinking water is found to be contaminated

By: News24Wire 10th August 2018 The government has set up a task team to look at imposing a total ban on microbeads – the tiny plastic beads used in cosmetics, toothpaste and sandblasting. This comes after a Water Research Commission study found microplastic pollution in tap water in Johannesburg and Tshwane, as well as in all... →

App monitors spread of FAW in Africa

By: Erin Steenhoff-Snethlage 10th August 2018 The Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) application (app) can save 300-million people in Africa from food insecurity and prevent significant economic losses in maize of up to $4.8-billion, caused by the infestation of the fall armyworm (FAW), says Food and Agriculture... →

Photo by Bloomberg
PEST ARMY The invasion of the fall armyworm is threatening the food security of 300-million people in Africa

Irrigation system reduces water use in orchards by 70%

By: Erin Steenhoff-Snethlage 10th August 2018 Louirrigate’s micro drip irrigation system, Tree Hog, can reduce farmers’ water use by up to 70% in orchards, and save up to 70% of energy costs, claims Tree Hog designer and Louirrigate owner Louis Loubser, who is a wine and fruit farmer in Robertson, Western Cape. The Tree Hog system is... →

WATER CONSERVATION The Tree Hog can reduce water consumption by up to 70%

W Cape focusing on creating certainty in agriculture sector

By: Erin Steenhoff-Snethlage 10th August 2018 The Western Cape provincial government is focusing on creating certainty for the agriculture industry by trying to ensure that farmers can continue farming and save jobs by requesting an increase in the water allocation to the industry from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), says... →

CERTAINTY NEEDED Farmers are positive about recent rains in the Western Cape, but more rain is needed to sustain recovery efforts

South African farmers face tough road to recovery

By: Erin Steenhoff-Snethlage 10th August 2018 Local orchards and vineyards could take between five and seven years to fully recover from the recent drought, provided there is average or above-average rainfall for three consecutive years, says agriculture industry association Agri SA head of natural resources Janse Rabie. “Because of the... →

Photo by Reuters
ROAD TO RECOVERY Drought stricken regions in South Africa need three years of significant rainfall to recover

JRA reopens expanded asphalt plant to better meet city’s infrastructure needs

By: Simone Liedtke 8th August 2018 As part of its commitment to bringing real change to communities, the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) on Wednesday relaunched its asphalt plant, in Ophirton, Johannesburg. The plant, which was first built in 1965, had to be refurbished to ensure it meets air quality requirements. →

Mathe Group ups tyre processing by 35%, grows steel exports

By: Irma Venter 7th August 2018 The KwaZulu-Natal-based Mathe Group, South Africa’s largest tyre recycler, has developed two steel by-products that are being exported to Australia and Korea in growing quantities. Dr Mehran Zarrebini, head of British investment group PFE International, which is one of the major shareholders in... →

S African company supplies four hoppers to Kenyan port

By: Halima Frost 3rd August 2018 South Africa-based equipment supplier BLTWORLD has assisted in supplying four materials handling specialist SAMSON Eco-Hoppers to the Kenyan Port of Mombasa, in June this year. Acquiring the hoppers is part of the Mombasa Resilient Infrastructure Programme (MRIP) initiative by the Kenya Ports... →

OUT OF THE QUAY The SAMSON hoppers can be moved to free up space where needed

Enel Green Power reaches financial close on five new wind farms

By: Simone Liedtke 1st August 2018 Enel Global Renewable Energies’ Enel Green Power (EGP) division, in Southern Africa, has reached financial close on five new wind farms with about 700 MW in capacity. The five wind farms – Nxuba and Oyster Bay, in the Eastern Cape, and Garob, Karusa and Soetwater, in the Northern Cape – have a... →

Sanedi calls on industry to move back Earth Overshoot Day

By: Simone Liedtke 1st August 2018 As part of its mission to address the issues of clean and sustainable energy, the South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) will be participating in this year’s global Earth Overshoot Day, taking place on August 1, by urging South Africans to check their ecological footprint... →

Biodegradable polymer market value to grow to $1.7bn by 2023

By: Marleny Arnoldi 27th July 2018 As plastic regulations and bans on plastic bags and other single-use plastic items such as drinking straws increase globally, the demand and, therefore, market value of biodegradable polymers exceeds $1-billion and will rise sharply to $1.7-billion by 2023, says global information provider IHS... →

UK-born idea could improve ventilation, cooling in African city buildings

By: Marleny Arnoldi 27th July 2018 An idea to retrofit existing buildings in African cities with three-dimensional (3D) printed porous insulation panels to improve liveability and reduce energy consumption for cooling and ventilation has been named the African winner of the Cities for our Future competition run by the Royal... →

Artist's impression of a resilient urban community

Impact of microplastics in Gauteng, North West water unknown – Rand Water

By: News24Wire 27th July 2018 The health impact of microplastics – bits of plastic less than 5mms in size – that were found in tap water in Johannesburg and Tshwane is at this stage unknown, Rand Water has said. This comes as a new study reported that substantial amounts of microplastics were found in the tap water supplied... →

New design introduced for global dealerships

27th July 2018 Last month, automotive manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced that it will introduce a new design for the interior and exterior of about 5 000 dealer stores globally. The move is based on the new brand message ‘Drive your Ambition’, initiated in October last year, and is intended to... →

Ford hits carbon emissions reduction target eight years early

27th July 2018 In June, automotive manufacturer Ford Motor Company announced that it had met its goal to reduce manufacturing emissions – eight years ahead of schedule. Ford hit the target twice as fast as expected. The results are dramatic, with a global manufacturing carbon emissions reduction of more than... →

EMISSION OMISSION Ford’s plug-in Hybrids score a 10 for lowered greenhouse gas emissions

Greenpeace, DA scrutinise Eskom, China Bank’s R33bn loan agreement

By: Marleny Arnoldi 25th July 2018 Nonprofit organisation Greenpeace has expressed its disappointment at China choosing to support “dirty, dead-end coal” in South Africa, especially since China has an emerging and strengthening leadership on climate change. This comment follows after State-owned power utility Eskom on Tuesday... →

Drinking water contaminated with micro plastic pollution in Gauteng

By: News24Wire 25th July 2018 Drinking water in Johannesburg and Tshwane is polluted with microplastics, a new study has found. Substantial amounts of microplastics – bits of plastics less that 5mm in size – were found in the tap water in both cities, as well as in rivers in Gauteng and in borehole water in the North West... →

As crops dry, Malawi turns to solar irrigation

By: Reuters 23rd July 2018 As climate change brings longer droughts, farmers in eastern Malawi's already dry Lake Chilwa basin are seeing an ever-more-frequent disaster: maize wilting or drying completely, leaving families hungry. "In the past many farmers relied on rain-fed agriculture to grow their food," said Edwin... →

De Beers to move 200 elephants from South Africa to Mozambique

By: Reuters 23rd July 2018 Diamond producer De Beers said on Monday it was relocating 200 elephants from its private reserve in South Africa to neighbouring Mozambique, part of wider efforts to restore wildlife populations ravaged by conflict there. The Anglo American unit said its 32 000 ha Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve... →

First African company announces science-based greenhouse gas target

By: African News Agency 19th July 2018 Emira Property Fund has become the first African and South African company to have a greenhouse gas emissions target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World... →

Multimillion-rand French funding deal for drought-stricken Western Cape still needs environmental approval

By: News24Wire 16th July 2018 A nearly R9-million joint desalination project between the Western Cape government and the French government still needs the required environmental approval for operation in November. The solar-powered desalination plant, the first of its kind, will be located in the coastal town of Witsand on... →

PET industry supports local waste recycling entrepreneurs

By: Jessica Oosthuizen 13th July 2018 The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sector on Friday showed its support to small-, medium-sized and microenterprises in the recycling sector by providing equipment that will enable the enterprises’ effective participation in the mandatory recycling programme launched by the City of Ekurhuleni... →

Low-carbon economy scenarios project under way

By: Terence Creamer 13th July 2018 Amid growing calls for South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon economy to be a just one, a project has been launched to map the possible socioeconomic and environmental scenarios for the transition. The initiative is being undertaken by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection... →

Zamanzima Mazibuko

Voluntary PET recycling volumes to grow to 70% within four years

By: Simone Liedtke 10th July 2018 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling company Petco expects voluntary PET recycling volumes in South Africa to grow to 70% within the next three to four years, Petco chairperson Dr Casper Durandt said on Tuesday. South African bottlers, who are voluntary members of Petco, are increasingly... →

Photo by Dylan Slater
(Left to Right) Petco CEO Cheri Scholtz, CSIR principal researcher Dr Suzan Oelofse, Petco chairperson Dr Casper Durandt

Climate Change Bill heads to NWest

By: African News Agency 10th July 2018 Public consultations on the National Climate Change Bill will be held in Rustenburg in the North West on Tuesday. The public consultation would be held at Marang in Phokeng outside Rustenburg to allow for public comments on the Bill. →

Never enough funding for the environment, says SANParks CEO

By: African News Agency 9th July 2018 Funding for nature conservation can never be sufficient, says South African National Parks (SANParks) CEO Fundisile Mketeni. "There is never enough [funding], there is always something happening in the environment," Mketeni told a group of business leaders hosted by SANParks at Skukuza in the... →

Business leaders visit Kruger Park to learn about anti-poaching measures

By: African News Agency 6th July 2018 Chief executive officers (CEOs) from various companies visited the Kruger National Park on Friday to learn about what SanParks is doing to help curb rhino poaching, with the hopes of receiving funding from the private sector. Peace Parks Foundation CEO Werner Myburgh said the park was the biggest... →

Dust suppression systems essential for community safety

6th July 2018 Environmental compliance is extremely important in the mining industry owing to the fact that dust suppression affects not only the health and safety of mineworkers, but that of surrounding communities as well. Another factor is that mines often use water as a solution to suppress dust. This is... →

REDUCE YOUR USE Dust-suppression systems aid in the reduction of costly water use for mining operations

Energy efficiency a priority in air conditioning

6th July 2018 Multinational electronics conglomerate Samsung has designed an energy efficient air conditioning system with the aim of helping to alleviate the pressure placed on South Africa’s strained natural resources. Since the recording of global temperatures began in 1951, the 17 warmest years were within... →

GLOBAL TEMPERATURES INCREASE Samsung reports that the 17 warmest years in recorded history were within the past 18 years

Key enviro assessment launched for SA gas and power networks

By: Nadine James 6th July 2018 The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute are undertaking a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for the development of a phased gas pipeline network and the expansion of the electricity grid infrastructure (EGI) corridors.... →

New tech, investments can reduce water crisis

By: Donald Makhafola 6th July 2018 New technologies for water and wastewater treatment plants, as well as investments in ecological infrastructure, could reduce the risks of water pollution and failure of critical water supply infrastructure in the country, says global engineering and infrastructure advisory firm Aurecon South... →

Photo by Bloomberg
COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT South Africa is depending on a complex and technically challenging bulk-water supply which requires a high level of expertise and coordination

Environment-friendly design for art gallery

By: Schalk Burger 6th July 2018 The Norval Foundation art gallery, established by the Norval family and which opened in Steenberg, in Cape Town, in April, hosts works by a range of South African artists and has architectural and civil engineering features aimed at promoting environment-friendliness and sustainability, the... →

Photo by Dave Southwood
NORVAL FOUNDATION ART GALLERY The gallery has rooftop solar photovoltaic panels, a building management system, water-saving measures, a grey-water purification system and stormwater return to the wetland

Pick n Pay trials compostable carrier bags in Cape Town

By: Marleny Arnoldi 3rd July 2018 Pick n Pay has become the first South African retailer to trial compostable bags as an environment-friendly alternative to plastic bags. →

Hope for Johannesburg waste pickers

By: News24Wire 3rd July 2018 The future of Johannesburg's waste pickers — people who make their living by searching through garbage for things to recycle — may be looking brighter, GroundUp reports. The City has committed to including waste pickers in its recycling initiatives. But an organisation that works with waste... →

World Bank approves $2.1bn loans for Nigerian projects

By: Reuters 29th June 2018 The World Bank said on Thursday it had approved a total of $2.1-billion in concessionary loans to fund projects in Nigeria aimed at improving access to electricity and promoting governance. The projects approved by the International Development Association (IDA), the bank's low-interest arm, are... →

No Day Zero for 2019 – City of Cape Town

By: News24Wire 28th June 2018 The City of Cape Town has announced that the dreaded Day Zero – the day when most of the taps will be turned off – will not happen in 2018 or 2019. The City of Cape Town said on Thursday that provided that adequate water restrictions are maintained, "the City is confident that there will be no... →

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Agriculture Construction Business Industrial Innovation Manufacturing Packaging Paper Resources Systems Waste Waste Management Electrical Lighting Projects Efficiency Environment Marine Water Components Energy Engineering Sustainable AECOM Design Fire Gas Health PROJECT Sanitation ... more

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