Road users speak up for rubbish recyclers
SANDTON- Road users are very disappointed with Errol Levin’s demand to take trolley pushers off the road, in Rubbish Recyclers: Are they a big help or a hindrance, week ending 28 March.
When Louis Lubbe saw the picture of the man reaching out for empty plastic bottles that had fallen off his cart, he felt his “heart aching”. Lubbe believes the individuals who recycle and push trolleys around town, are “fighting for survival”.
“They spend entire days gathering stuff that we throw away to take to a recycling plant,” he said.
Lubbe asked a rubbish recycler on Bowling Avenue in Morninisgside about his lifestyle. “It was impossible to ignore the hardship and suffering on his face,” said Lubbe. “It is a tough life.”
He said the man spends the whole day collecting material and then pushes the trolley 6km to a recycling plant in Alexandra. He makes an average of about R30 a day, sleeps under a bridge at night, and repeats this the following day.
“The trolley man could choose to beg on a street corner, insist on washing your car window at a robot, or even resort to theft – but he chose the trolley life,” said Lubbe.
He pleaded with road users to be patient with trolley pushers. “Those of you who do not have a heart that has been hardened by your privileged life, do spare a thought for the poorest of the poor. Allow the trolley people on the road and let them touch your conscience,” he said.
Another road user, Jess Wolpert said, “They are doing a wonderful service to all of us and making a living without involving the public.
“I have given them a little bit of money, food or even recycled products from my home on many occasions to help them along with their horrid job of sifting through our disgusting waste, pulling trolleys uphill in the boiling heat or freezing cold, and never asking anyone for a thing.”
Read our previous story here.
