South Africa is currently in the grips of one of the worst droughts in decades, with five of the country’s provinces already declared drought disaster areas. The Western Cape, and Northern and Eastern Cape and Limpopo are the areas facing the most serious lack of water, with the Mother City counting down the days to the predicted “Day Zero”, when the province’s taps will run … [Read more...]
Mass cleanup movement takes root in SA
‘Let’s Do It! World‘ is a civic-led mass movement that began in Estonia in 2008 when 50,000 people decided to clean up the entire country in just five hours. The concept has now spread to the rest of the world, including South Africa. In fact, there’s a big cleanup planned for cities such as Johannesburg in September this year. The local team at ‘Let’s do it! World’ spoke to me … [Read more...]
Converting race waste into Green Desks
The #GOGREEN campaign – a waste management and anti-littering movement (a partnership between Old Mutual and WILDLANDS, supported by Polyco) was launched at the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (OMTOM) in 2017. Similarly, the Comrades Marathon Association were inspired by the success of this campaign in Cape Town and implemented #GOGREEN along 27km of the 87km Comrades route in … [Read more...]
Disabled Gansbaai residents receive PVC beach wheelchairs
As part of their commitment to the environment and community the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA) recently donated an imported beach wheelchair, made from PVC pipes, to Cross Home Care based in the Gansbaai area, Western Cape. According to Delanie Bezuidenhout, CEO of SAVA, the wheelchair was imported from the USA and is the first of its kind in South Africa. It is … [Read more...]
Turning the tide on plastic waste at KZN beach clean-ups
Thousands of bags filled with litter were prevented from entering the sea off the KwaZulu-Natal coast this past month thanks to various beach-clean ups organized by the Plastics|SA Sustainability Division. According to Douw Steyn, Sustainability Director at Plastics|SA, a staggering amount of litter made its way down the Umgeni river recently after heavy rains and was … [Read more...]
5-year-old spinal defect sufferer gets a gift of mobility
The life of 5-year old Buhlebenkosi Mene from Kraaifontein was forever changed thanks to the donation of a much-needed wheelchair that was purchased for her through the Breadtags for Wheelchairs Project and the DHL Western Province rugby team. Buhlebenkosi was born with Spina Bifida – a birth defect that occurs when the vertebrae don’t form properly around part of the baby’s … [Read more...]
Packaging industries raise R45 000 for new seabird hospital
The South African plastics and packaging industries managed to raise an incredible R45 000 during last week’s Propak Cape Exhibition by inviting companies and individuals to pledge funds for a much needed seabird hospital at SANCCOB’s Cape Town centre. According to Douw Steyn, Sustainability Director at Plastics|SA, leaders in the packaging industry and individuals did not … [Read more...]
Cape Town’s Street Sleeper wins gold with recycled PVC sleeping bags
Recycling used billboards made from end of life PVC banners not only help keep thousands of homeless city dwellers warm and dry, but has now also received the recognition it deserves from South Africa’s plastic recycling fraternity by walking away with a Gold Award in the category “Novel and Artistic Products” during the South African Plastic Recyclers Organisation (SAPRO) Best … [Read more...]
Coastal clean-up initiative sees record number of participants
This past weekend saw the 21st year in which South Africa participated in the International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) – an annual event that has become the biggest, global volunteer effort for ocean health. “We coordinated more than 400 beach clean-up points around the Cape and 40 in KZN in partnership with the KZN Marine Waste Network members on Saturday alone. This excludes … [Read more...]
African Marine Waste Conference highlights need for more collaboration
The 2017 African Marine Waste Conference took place from the 9th to the 13th of July in Port Elizabeth, and was attended by approximately 200 delegates from 9 African states and a further 10 countries from other continents. The inaugural African Marine Waste Conference was managed by the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST) under the leadership of Dr Tony Ribbink, CEO of SST, and … [Read more...]
Annual clean-up competition urges schools to recycle
Schools around the country stand a chance to once again win big prizes in Plastics|SA’s annual schools competition, entitled “Let’s do it … Let’s Clean-Up South Africa!” According to Douw Steyn, Director: Sustainability at Plastics|SA, the aim of this national competition is to educate and encourage schools, communities, businesses and organisations to play their part in … [Read more...]
Clean-up and Recycle SA celebrates 21 years of beach guardianship
Clean-up and Recycle SA Week will take place this year from 11 – 17 September 2017, with various clean-ups being planned for neighbourhoods, water sources and beaches around the country. One of the highlights of this annual environmental awareness event, will be the 21st International Coastal Clean-Up Day (ICC) that will be taking place on Saturday, 16 September … [Read more...]
Fishing Line Recovery Programme aims to spread responsible fishing
The Fishing Line Recovery Programme, aimed at preserving South Africa’s marine heritage, has extended to now boast 360 bins along the coast. DPI Plastics has been involved with the initiative for the past four years, supplying the pipes and fittings for the manufacture of the specially-designed fishing line repositories, explains Marketing Manager Martine Goodchild. The … [Read more...]
