The University of South Africa (Unisa) has partnered with the Bushbuckridge local municipality, in Mpumalanga, to find ways of improving waste management in the region.
The municipality’s waste management manager, Levy Mokoena, says the municipality will use Unisa’s academic research on indigenous knowledge systems and waste management to obtain affordable and manageable solutions to deal with its waste.
This follows after the municipality assessed the status of waste management in its communities.
“It is the responsibility of the municipality to address issues of waste management within our society. As a municipality, we look after different sectors – townships, villages and business areas – but unfortunately as a rural municipality we do not generate enough revenue, which limits our waste management hand to reach some parts of our jurisdiction,” says Mokoena.
The municipality is, therefore, encouraging citizens to recycle their waste, where possible. The partnership with Unisa is expected to help the municipality improve its recycling rates.
“The mission for the municipality and Unisa is to support existing recyclers by making them realise the potential of a clean, healthy environment and job creation [opportunities],” says Mokoena.
Unisa Associate Professor in environmental issues Fani Machete, meanwhile, says it is important to understand people's cultures and why they think the way they do before appropriate waste management strategies can be put in place in a particular region.
Unisa is encouraging the government to buy materials from recyclers, as is done in the US and Europe, as well as encouraging people to recycle various materials, especially plastic, which is often burned, creating a significant health hazard.
Machete says recycling can be a good source of income for some, but stresses that recycling should be formalised.
"Many recyclers have bailed out because of the little money they are receiving and not knowing the great potential financial growth that lies with recycling."