Developing new ideas for reducing plastic pollution

Municipality, business and community are collaborating to clean up the environment and get plastic waste out of the rivers and ocean and back into the value chain.

Minster of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, the Honourable Mrs Creecy, launched the use of a Beach Rake and the Inkwazi Isu on 19 September at Toti Main Beach in KwaZulu Natal.

Inkwazi Isu (Fisheagle Project) is the brainchild of a group of collaborators from Industry and Civil society who engaged with the eThekwini Municipality and put together a project to address education, infrastructure development and an Innovation Hub, to develop new ideas for entrepreneurs, to highlight plastic pollution on the KZN South Coast.

In building on the four pillars of the Inkwazi Isu implementation plan, the recently held KZN Marine Waste Network South Coast Action Workshop covered the education and clean-up pillars and aimed to foster relationships between stakeholders and strengthen collaboration. The workshop, facilitated by Andrew Manning, Emmanuel Sakado and Douw Steyn, identified goals, partners and ACTIONS in the massive initiative to address the plastics pollution in the Amanzimtoti and Umbogotweni river catchment area in KwaZulu-Natal.

In line with the goals of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and the SA Initiative to End Plastics Waste, they identified four areas that stakeholders will focus on viz.: infrastructure, innovation & technology, education & training, and clean-up campaigns and developed action plans for each.

The task of educating communities and creating awareness of pollution in our rivers, will be implemented and coordinated by SA Health Foundation, Durban Solid Waste, Clean Surf Project, Triple P, Social Waste Management SA, SW Recyclers, Plastics SA, WESSA and Durban Clean Community. POLYCO, PETCO and the Polystyrene Association of SA are all committed to empowering and supporting these organisations. POLYCO has taken it upon itself to maintain and support the local taxi rank at Amanzimtoti Lagoon.

Stakeholders and members involved in the workshop were:

• Education and Clean-ups Working Group Lead: Douw Steyn
• Project Manager: Dr. Emmanuel Sakado
• Clean Surf: Denzil vd Westhuizen
• Sapphire Coast Tourism: Romy Wenzel
• WESSA Upper South Coast Branch: Bob Skipping and Colleen Gill
• Social Waste Management: Juan Matthyzen
• DSW Education: Nomalanga Gumede
• Association of Clean Communities Trust: Guy Caws
• Local Community Member: Mark Bertasso
• Chairman KZN Marine Waste Network South Coast (Inkwazi Isu)
• Andrew Manning
• Polyco: Lisl Liedeman and Nicola Rowe