Saldanha Bay takes fight to plastic

Saldanha Bay Municipality has recently received the go-ahead to continue for the next three years with its free door-to-door recycling service. With the first route established in 2016 in Langebaan, the program has since grown extensively to include the towns of Paternoster, Vredenburg, Jacobsbaai and Hopefield. Currently, over 7 500 households have joined the “We Care – Recycle” programme, swopping a full bag of recyclable material for an empty one each week.

Worldwide problem

Waste, especially plastic, has become a major problem worldwide. Across the planet scientists are trying to come up with new ways to combat the tons of plastics polluting rivers and the ocean. But, with no solution found yet to have the problem simply disappear, the most effective method to reduce the impact of plastic on the environment remains to recycle used materials.

Bakkie loads of recyclables

Which is exactly what the Saldanha Bay Municipality is doing by the bakkie load. To date, over a thousand tons of recyclable household waste materials have been collected, diverted away from the landfills and recycled back into manufacturing. The project has created 46 employment opportunities within the local community, a number which is set to grow in the coming years. 

Award-winning municipality 

In 2018, Saldanha Bay Municipality’s won the Silver Award in the Municipal Category at the Eco-Logic National Environmental Awards beating all other municipal entries in this category, except the City of Tshwane who won the Gold Award. And they’re bringing the important recycling message to the youth. During the recent Recycle Week, the municipality partnered with the West Coast National Park and Sea Harvest to hold a schools promotional and educational event.

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