Rands for your rubbish
In a bid to encourage residents to stop dumping refuse illegally, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality wants to pay them to sort through their rubbish.
The initiative, which is subject to budget approval, means residents would separate all their waste into piles of what is recyclable and not for collection by co-operatives.
The initiative will be piloted in Missionvale and Matthew Goniwe before being rolled out to other areas after about six months.
Presenting the plan to the public health portfolio committee on Tuesday, senior director Annalisa Dyakala said efforts to clean up the Bay’s townships were not yielding the desired outcomes.
“We have implemented many projects but we are not seeing any improvement in cleanliness, specifically in townships,” she said.
“Another problem is that we don’t have a facility where we can sort out waste.”
Dyakala said the aim was also to introduce and maintain a culture of separating waste in Bay households.
She said the municipality would provide training to community-based entities before embarking on a community awareness programme.
The department would then introduce a two-bag system to participating homes to allow for residents to sort their waste, which would be weighed and paid for according to weight.
“If we are dealing with all waste streams, why would residents feel the need to dump waste illegally?” Dyakala said.
She said the two pilot areas were chosen based on the population density.
ANC councillor Luyolo Nombola said the initiative would help improve cleanliness in Missionvale.
“This will also help elevate the green economy and improve the lives of residents,” Nombola said.
● The municipality recently walked away with R2.5m for coming second in the national Greenest Municipality Competition for its green initiatives and clean parks.
Dyakala said coming second was a step backwards as the municipality was once the greenest city in the country.
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