Ekurhuleni’s efforts towards a cleaner planet commended at COP26 in Glasgow

The waste initiative by the City of Ekurhuleni and Oxfam South Africa received accolades from those who visited the South African Pavilion during this year’s edition of the COP26 held in Glasgow.

Hosting an exhibition stall inside the South African Pavilion, both team Ekurhuleni and Oxfam South Africa displayed brochures depicting the smart partnership between the two and shared information on national programmes.

They also interacted with the visitors at their stall, where they elaborated on their collaboration, which has seen the incorporation of informal waste pickers into the City’s formal waste collection to maintain a cleaner planet and contribute to the global target of a net-zero carbon planet.

This collaborative effort runs a successful initiative that integrates community-based enterprises (CBEs), mainly composed of women-led organisations in the municipal waste management system mainly in informal settlement areas.

The collaboration allows the City to highlight the efforts towards efficient and effective waste management, while at the same time creating work opportunities, formalising the existing informal waste pickers and contributing to the universal waste problem.

The overarching objective of this project is to create, within a timeframe of 24 months, an alternative concrete and inclusive economic model that will strongly improve the resilience of the CBEs and that of the communities where they operate.

Establishment and the start-up of the Social Recycling Factory, co-owned by the waste pickers, provides evidence on key elements for a fairer and just economic model, harnessing the power of the market to promote a more inclusive approach of the industrial activities and rebalancing the roles of the CBEs in the value chain.