In September, SST had the opportunity to travel to Cape Town to meet with various stakeholders in our mission to expand our Operation Clean Spot initiative and strengthen our partnerships with various stakeholders in the City of Cape Town municipality. These visits enabled us to engage with communities and service providers in the Ocean View, Dunoon, and Nomzamo areas to identify the current challenges and opportunities for sustainable waste management.
Our visit was supported by members from various organisations and initiatives within these and other areas, such as Shark Spotters, Kerby Recycling, Boost Africa Foundation, WWF South Africa, Helderberg Ocean Awareness Movement and Regenize which saw us in not only the Ocean View, Dunoon and Nomzamo areas, but Athlone and Strand as well.
While there, we also attended a sub council meeting with the City of Cape Town to discuss the potential for a pilot project in these areas with the support of council and the community to bring about a better solution for waste management and restore the environmental and social health of the communities in question.
Another feature of the trip was a tour to the Propet SA processing facility to better understand how they manufacture geotextiles and fabrics from recycled PET plastic bottles. The PET bottle and jar recycling story in South Africa is a truly inspirational one of closed-loop recycling – a cradle-to-cradle solution to the plastic bottle waste challenge we face in this country, with local beneficiation to boot. PET bottle recycling keeps the product (i.e. the bottle) out of the waste stream and the environment, and within the value chain at its highest value but at the lowest cost to both the consumer and society at large.
The week was rounded out by the attendance of our team at the SA Circular Economy Hotspot 2024 Conference – an invaluable learning experience and networking opportunity into the circular economy and the various stakeholders that participate therein.
These types of stakeholder engagements are foundational to SST’s strategy to support and facilitate sustainable waste management in Africa. Through maximising and supporting collaboration across our African network of partners and implementing practical, tried-and-tested solutions, SST believes that a future where the people of Africa and her seas flourish together is possible.
