190kg of waste removed from harbour

A WHOPPING 190kg of waste was removed from the Durban Marina on Sunday, July 2 as volunteers pitched in to clean up after the Tuesday’s heavy rains.

Angela Dargan said she was inspired to organise the event when she saw videos and photos of the heavily littered marina after the storm. She took to Facebook to call for volunteers and non-profit organisation Zero Waste Foundation offered to pitch in.

“I saw the pollution at the harbour through videos and photos on social media and decided to get people together and clean up as much as we could. With just seven volunteers, we filled 27 bags within an hour,” she said.

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Dargan added that she and her husband are ‘yatchies’ – they keep a boat and sail regularly, making the clean up a cause close to their hearts.
“We care about the ocean. I think there is a need for more recycling plants in Durban so waste doesn’t end up in landfills unnecessarily, or worse, in our oceans,” said Dargan.

Zero Waste Foundation assisted in sorting the refuse collected – to send as much as possible to be recycled rather than adding to the landfill.

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Melissa Van Rensburg, sustainability communications manager for Zero Waste Foundation, said, “During clean-ups, our goal is to maximise the recovery of recyclable materials to prevent waste from ending up in landfill and minimise environmental pollution. It depends on the quality of waste – if the waste is contaminated, it can’t always be recycled.”

She added that the Zero Waste Foundation, supported by Don’t Waste, successfully cleared 190kg of waste from the Durban Marina and sent 50kg for recycling while 140kg of general waste was removed.

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