Civil Engineering August 2021 | Vol 29 No 7

Civil Engineering August 2021 23 perform a valuable job which requires intellect, commitment, and a great deal of hard work. Their work is saving our municipalities approximately R748 mil- lion in landfill airspace alone – that does not include the savings in waste removal trucking and fuel. Due to their efforts, South Africa’s recycling is now on par with many European countries – 80% to 90% of all material recycled in South Africa is entirely due to the efforts of these green champions. WHAT DO THEY COLLECT? The reclaimers only collect what has economic value at the buy-back centre, namely clear PET bottles (e.g. cooldrinks bottles), plastic milk containers, creepy crawly pipes, plastic plant pots, large yoghurt containers, aluminium cold drink cans, electronic waste and paper. WHAT DO THEY NOT COLLECT? Reclaimers do not take anything that the buy-back centres will not pay for including: Q Q Bottle tops (these are recyclable but the buy-back centres will not pay any money for them) Q Q Transparent fruit containers (e.g. strawberry packaging – these are re- cyclable PET but the buy-back centres will not pay out for them) Q Q Green and brown PET bottles such as Appletiser, Grapetiser, Mountain Dew and Stoney Ginger Beer bottles are not always taken (consumers should consider boycotting such products and accordingly notifying the manu- facturers that they need to make their packaging in colours acceptable to recycling buy-back centres) Q Q Expanded polystyrene foam. Are they criminals and will helping them contribute to the beggar/squatter problem? Q Q Most reclaimers are good people doing their best to eke out an honest living. They are generally not beggars and are prepared to work very hard for long hours (day and night) for very modest returns. Q Q Most reclaimers work a number of different suburbs, going through trash bins on the night prior to, and on the day of, refuse collections. Most live in very modest accommodation outside of our suburbs. When their carts are full, they may sometimes lie down in a park for an hour or two of sleep next to their carts, rather than go home, because most buy-back centres only function during business hours and abandoning their precious trolley and cargo would likely result in its theft. ASSISTING RECLAIMERS There are a number of ways in which residents can assist reclaimers, including: Q Q Separate waste at source and place only what has value to the reclaimers in boxes or clear packets on the pave- ments on collection day. The easier we make it for these reclaimers the less time they will have to spend in our suburbs. Respect the fact that digging through waste is a disgusting job for anybody – imagine yourself having to do this job Q Q Rinse out ALL dirty containers so that they are clean for collection Q Q Remove bottle tops as these are not taken and are often discarded around suburbs Q Q Get to know the person who frequents your street – build a relationship with that person and find out what they will and won’t take Q Q Show kindness to your local reclaimers – offer bottles of water on hot days or a cup of tea on freezing winter morn- ings – a little kindness goes a long way Q Q Be mindful of the reclaimers who risk their lives on our roads and give them a wide berth while driving – don’t hoot at them Q Q Encourage reclaimers to join ARO and become ‘registered’ reclaimers in your suburb Q Q Supply reflective vests and trolley reflectors to your resident reclaimers Q Q Work with ARO as a community so that residents learn how best to work with the reclaimers for the benefit of all Q Q Refrain from referring to them using demeaning and derogatory titles such as “scavengers” or “vultures”.  South Africa’s waste reclaimers work extremely hard to make an honest living