A KwaZulu-Natal-based community recycling initiative helped keep plastic out of the environment at the Ballito Pro 2022 surfing competition. Thousands of nurdles litter South Africa’s beaches. These tiny plastic resin pellets, also called mermaid tears, are a source of microplastics in our oceans and are dangerous to marine life. Nurdles are lentil-sized plastic pellets … [Read more...]
Mitigating plastic waste’s negative impact on the environment
The South African plastics industry is taking solid steps forward to mitigate the negative impact of plastic waste on the environment and society. This is evidenced by the amount of recycling of plastic waste that is already being undertaken in the country and initiatives geared at keeping our water-catchment areas free of plastic litter. Plastics are affordable, practical … [Read more...]
Fishermen unite for Africa’s first Plastic Fishing Tournament
Over 100 fishermen headed out to sea off Cape Town recently to reel in some of the ocean’s greatest scourge – plastic. In recognition of World Ocean Day, 20 boats took part in Africa’s first Plastic Fishing Tournament, covering over 30-square kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean and retrieving 300kg of plastic debris within three hours. The tournament and the impact of marine … [Read more...]
Clean up coming to Blue Lagoon Beach
As nature-lovers get ready to celebrate World Ocean Day on Wednesday 8 June, Green Corridors, the Durban-based NPO that looks after green spaces in the City, employing a team of ecotourism and nature guides, clean-up co-ordinators, agroecologists, and recycling experts, call on citizens to be mindful, that the ocean is one of the City’s (and the world’s) most important … [Read more...]
Big Tobacco, clean up your mess!
Protect our Next advocacy organisations have launched a campaign calling for Big Tobacco to clean up its mess called ‘Susa Udoti Wakho - #yourbuttsstink.’ The 2022 World Health Organisation (WHO) theme - “Tobacco: Threat to our environment” - focuses on the damaging impact tobacco has on the planet throughout its lifecycle, including deforestation, erosion, water pollution … [Read more...]
Beach clean up coming to Milnerton
Plastic Free Mzansi 2022 kicks off on World Environment Day with a beach clean up at Sunset Beach, Milnerton on Sunday, 5 June. Meet the team there at 9am. The beach needs you! With the winter rains arriving, plastic is carried down rivers onto the beach where it escapes into the ocean. The north-wester winds also bring in pollution from the ocean, often thrown overboard … [Read more...]
Caroline Reid Awards honour this year’s clean-up champions
Awards were handed out to this year's clean-up volunteers to recognise their tireless efforts in keeping our rivers and oceans clean. Plastics SA used National Water Week (20-26 March 2022) to recognize the commitment and dedication of our country’s water warriors by awarding the annual Caroline Reid Awards for Clean-Up Champions of the Year. “We launched the Caroline … [Read more...]
Festival celebrates connection between humans and the ocean
In the wake of a receding Covid pandemic, a theme of ocean rejuvenation and conservation underscores an exciting in-person line up at the 19th annual Wavescape Surf & Ocean Festival, happening in Cape Town from 1 to 11 March 2022. Festival Director Shani Judes said: “In this difficult era in human history, we feel it is important to recognise and promote the symbiotic … [Read more...]
Clean-up and Recycle SA Week approaching
Its almost that time of the year again to stock up on black bags and dust off those beach boots for the annual Clean-Up & Recycle SA week, running from 13 - 18 September 2021. This year’s week will once again culminate in National Recycling Day on Friday, 17 September 2021 and the International Coastal Clean-Up Day/Let’s Do It World Clean-up Day on Saturday, 18 September … [Read more...]
Make-a-Difference Week beach cleanup a great success
The 5 to 13 June 2021 was Make-a-Difference Week, a worldwide effort to reduce negative environmental impacts. The Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) team kicked off the nine-day commitment with a beach cleanup from Sunrise Beach to Muizenberg on World Environment Day, which was also the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. There was … [Read more...]
Fishers around SA protest against Karpowership plans
Hundreds of people from fishing communities near Langebaan and Saldanha on the Cape’s West Coast took to Friday Island Beach on World Ocean Day (8 June), to “Say No to Karpowerships”. The protesters turned up in droves to demonstrate their rejection of the government’s plans to allow the so-called Karpowerships to anchor offshore, proposed to assist the government’s power … [Read more...]
Local polymer producer joins Operation Clean Sweep
One of Africa’s leading polymer producers and marketers has officially signed the Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) pledge. According to Gert Claasen, Technology and Innovation Executive at Safripol, the OCS pledge firmly aligns with their recently launched “Let’s Plastic Responsibly” campaign, which encourages the responsible use of plastics. “From a Safripol perspective, it … [Read more...]
International Coastal Clean-up Day a huge success
Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week took place from 14 - 19 September 2020, culminating in National Recycling Day on Friday, 18 September and South Africa's 24th year of participating in the annual International Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, 19 September. "With an emphasis on COVID-safe clean-ups this year, we asked coordinators to keep the numbers of volunteers to below … [Read more...]
