The mission to preserve our environment by shunning pollution and encouraging recycling has become an important activity to be carried out by all entities worldwide. This is what The Glass Recycling Company emphasised and showcased at the 5th Annual Green Dialogues.
The event aimed at celebrating the great strides made in increasing recycling and re-using of glass in the country was driven by businesswoman, TV and radio presenter, Penny Lebyane. The emcee started off by emphasising that all those who had been invited had the responsibility of becoming equal warriors in distributing the message of recycling and re-using to the general public.
The CEO of The Glass Recycling Company, Shabeer Jhetam also touched on the upcoming separation at source and stated that 20 years ago the environment wasn’t such a big issue and how that has changed over time.
“Forty-one million people have been exposed to our campaigns; we cannot stop population increase but we can equip the population with resources and knowledge to reduce environmental pollution,” Jhetam said.
It was not only the achievements that were highlighted but also some challenges were touched on by the CEO as well. These included the tough economic conditions, which led to high transport costs, which affected processes of ferrying recyclable material through long distances.
A social activist in environmental and humanitarian issues, Catherine Constantinides focused on the areas she had travelled to over the past five years and shared her observations of their environments in order to highlight the waste crisis.
“We find ourselves in a waste crisis and we shouldn’t be waiting until it is a crisis to address it. It is horrifying to see what we have allowed becoming a reality within our towns,” Constantinides said.
The activist referred to Rwanda, termed the cleanest country, as the ‘blueprint’ of what is actually possible not just in Africa but internationally.
She also spoke about the initiative pioneered by local activists including Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba called A Re Ssebetseng. “Political will was in the right place and when people see what the mayor is doing they will follow that example and community responsibility will thrive.”
Details: The Glass Recycling Company website
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