DUCT find medical waste during clean ups

THE Dusi uMngeni Conservation Trust, DUCT has also discovered “medical waste” during a regular beach cleanup of the uMngeni River mouth on Friday morning while the municipality’s ongoing clean-up operations continue to rid Durban beaches of medical waste, which washed up earlier this week.

Bart Fokkens, environmental manager at DUCT said he had noticed little white plastic tablet bottles with their labels washed off and used condoms, during their voluntary clean ups. “We clean up because our NGO is concerned with river health. At least 80 per cent of litter on the beach is plastic. The cleanups benefit the environment, provide employment to some people and DUCT sorts the collected litter. It also benefits the taxpayers because eThekwini doesn’t have to move the recyclable material because we sort it and the recycle company collects it,” he said.

At least 70 huge 30kg bags of plastic have been collected from clean-up operations since the floods on 8 May.

Fokkens advised those who wished to embark on beach clean-ups to assess it first. “Once the area has been accessed, you should get teams to sort the litter as they pick it into PET which is clear plastic, white plastic and other, which is high density plastic. Without sorting it, you might double the amount of time and labour,” he said.

Fokkens encouraged the public to get involved in a clean-up on Saturday, 21 May at the Beachwood Mangroves from 9.30am to 11.30am. The public is urged to take along gloves, plastic bags as well as drinking water. Visit the group’s Facebook page, #Clean BlueLagoon for more information.

Meanwhile, Rishard Hassam, who has a stall at Blue Lagoon said he was not surprised by the dumping of medical waste since he has seen a lot of incidents occur at uMngeni River mouth over the years. “Many people have used the river as a dumping ground, causing much pollution which affects fishing. The fish hardly come herr (Blue Lagoon) anymore and this place used to be good fishing ground. I think the only solution to this dumping problem is if the municipality workers and security monitor the river mouth and issue fines if necessary. Dumping old tablets and other medical waste is actually dangerous for people swimming in the beaches and the fish and bird life,” he said.