Zithande Mzansi Programme kicks off in Mpumalanga
Fibre Circle kicked off its Zithande Mzansi Programme at the 8th instalment of the World Environmental Day Summit held in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga on 14 June.
The summit saw Fibre Circle in collaboration with the Mkhondo Municipality roll out the implementation of new infrastructure to support recycling in the community and the school environment.
30 bins were delivered to ten schools within the Mkhondo Local Municipality and Gert Sibande District Municipality.
Present at the handover were excited learners among other stakeholders who got to learn about the different waste streams, the importance of sorting the waste before insertion in the bins and the importance of ensuring food waste is not mixed with recyclables.
Through informative and interactive sessions, Fibre Circle taught the learners what separation at source is; the importance of it and the income that could result from doing it effectively and consistently.
Speaking at the Summit, Vusi Dube, Chairperson of the Mkhondo Environmental Forum expressed appreciation for the 30 bins and emphasized the need for solutions such as more infrastructure in public spaces.
“We need effective and sustainable solutions.”
“It does not help to be reactive and do clean-ups, we need to intercept that waste before it reaches the corners it finds itself in illegal dump zones or our landfill sites which are filling up fast.”
He said communities also need to be aware of the packaging of the consumables they use in their everyday lives and where it ultimately ends up.
He said this could be seen in the recent Cholera outbreak.
“Cholera is posing various health implications due to water streams being contaminated and mostly by our own human interventions. We need to self-correct and that is why such a summit is necessary; to spread the message that keep Mpumalanga clean.
“We now have a massive donation of 30 bins for 10 schools from Fibre Circle as they see a need to put this infrastructure in place to help us take those steps towards a cleaner municipality and province.”
“We must know that not all the waste belongs to the landfill site. If we keep disposing irresponsibly and sending everything to landfill we are working to our detriment.
He said cleaning illegal dumping sites costs around R50 000 which could be used in other areas.
“We need to all pull together towards this goal. In our workspaces we need to separate, not all the waste belongs in the same bin. Let us begin a culture of having recycling centres in our municipalities, workplaces, in our schools and other spaces.”
One of the learners from Ubuhlebuzile High School, Buhle Zwane said such summits were necessary as they serve to impart valuable knowledge about caring for the environment and creating an income and career through waste.
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Email: info@fibrecircle.co.za
