If your outdated garments were sent for recycling, chances are they ended up with Veloshnie and Raja Govender of Embrace Trading.
Their experience with recycling spans 10 to 15 years.
Veloshnie explains the job of processing items made of wool and similar materials is challenging but also exciting, and they are supported well by local factories.
“We processed 900 bags the day before, and another 500 are on their way,” Veloshnie says. “We haven’t really picked up from factories since about October.”
They go through hundreds of bags of materials every single day.
How does the process work?
Embrace Trading picks up bundles of materials and fabric remnants from local factories on a regular basis, before cleaning, separating and baling them.
These bales weight approximately 300 kilograms each.
It takes one ton of baled material before manufacturing plants in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban can begin processing the waste.
At these plants, materials are shredded into finer pieces.
Some items are pulled apart for threads to make wool, some are compressed for underfelt and others are torn for mattress fillings.
Some 50 tons of material can be processed in a day.
After processing, the waste material dispatched by Embrace Trading is transformed into carpets, blankets, mattress filling and more.
What are the challenges facing recyclers?
One of the chief problems facing local recycling warehouses is importing of goods, which has a big effect on prices due to fluctuation.
Another risk is fire due to stacked and often flammable materials.
Burglaries are also said to be commonplace, with some brazen thieves even attempting to sell back stolen items for a profit.
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However the biggest problem remains ignorance among residents.
“We don’t have full support; people don’t have the patience to recycle and expect us to reach into bins and dig.”
Veloshnie says many also don’t grasp the concept of recycling, failing to realise there are different locations for different kinds of recyclables.
One example is when Embrace received lightbulbs.
“We do try where possible to make use of the extra items we get. Flip files for example, we send to underprivileged schools for their use.”
Although these can certainly be recycled, Veloshnie had to arrange to have the lightbulbs taken by another facility where they can indeed be repurposed.
Do you recycle? Let us know in the comments below what your view on recycling is.
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Email: Reveshni Douglas (Editor) at reveshni@caxton.co.za
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