Recyclers plead with municipality for help
“We want to help them come together and form cooperatives so we would be able to fund their projects depending on their needs."
KwaThema – Recyclers are pleading with the municipality to help form recycling cooperatives.
They spoke during an assessment workshop held by the municipality at KwaThema Community Hall on Wednesday.
Informal recycler Meita Njangase (56) says she started recycling in 2014 after being unemployed for years.
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“I tried to find domestic work, but with no success. One of the women in the area invited me to start collecting recyclable material with them.
“It was not easy in the beginning because I was forced to wake up in the early hours of the morning to join the ladies in my area to collect the scraps.
“It is a tough job because we are forced to carry the loads on our heads and walk long distances because of the competition in the field.”
Meita says they are pleading with the municipality to give them land for storage because some of their materials are stolen in the middle of the night by other recycles.
“We need trolleys, uniforms, protective gloves and boots, and trucks.
“We spend half of the money we make to pay for the transportation of the recycling depots.
“It would be better if we had our own scales and compressors so we can cut out the middle man,” she adds.
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What is the importance of recycling?
David Bambatha says through the years they had the challenge of illegal dumping within the municipality, but through the help of the recyclers, they have identified a decline.
“Recyclers play an important role in cleaning their communities and in the process contributing towards the economy of the municipality.
“We believe by formalising this through registered cooperatives they can make a better living out of the profit to support their families,” he says.
David added the workshops are aimed at assessing how recyclers in the area conduct their work and what their needs are.
“We want to help them come together and form cooperatives so we would be able to fund their projects depending on their needs.
“This can be machinery, funds, land or trolleys they need to make their work bearable,” he explains.
