Watercrest recycling village shuts down

AFTER two years of the Watercrest Mall Recycling Village being operational and open to the Upper Highway community, it has come to a close.

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The facility was being run in conjunction with four NPO’s and partners that, according to the centre, have all withdrawn from the programme.

The project came about when Woolworths partnered with Wildlands to encourage citizen-action to improve the environment.

“We have found it increasingly challenging to manage and sustain the facility on our own,” said the centre’s spokesperson, Elizabeth Roux.

This, according to the centre, has led to reduced staff and lack of control on the types of recycling that is accepted, which has led to health and safety issues.

“We have also found ourselves in the position of having to dispose of waste items that are clearly not recyclables, driving up our monthly expenditure exponentially,” said Roux.

Watercrest Mall said it regretted making this decision and apologised to the community the recycling centre catered to.

“We would also like to reassure you that all our waste derived from our mall will continue to be sorted and recycled, as part of our efforts to look after our environment,” Roux added.

ALSO READ: Recycling levels up at Watercrest Mall

Keep Hillcrest Beautiful Association’s (KHBA) Marge Mitchell said the establishment of the recycling centre in Watercrest Mall was well received by the community in the area and it was well supported, to her knowledge.

“I was aware that the Upper Highway community regarded the site in a positive light, particularly those who were pleased that the site accepted plastic, in particular, besides the usual other recyclables such as paper, cardboard and cans,” she said.

Mitchell hopes that those who are environmentally aware will make the effort to take their recyclables to another collection site, such as the Keep Hillcrest Beautiful Association’s site on Delamore Road.

“KHBA manages and runs a drop-off recycling site in Delamore Road and it would be hoped that this facility will be used by those who supported the recycling site in Waterfall.

The KHBA recycling site is open seven days a week and accepts paper, cardboard, cans, glass and polystyrene from large appliances. “KHBA would appeal to residents to not discard their recyclables in the refuse bin,” she added.

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