Community will soon be able to turn their waste into an income
Community members will be able to take their waste to the buy-back centres.
HOPING to clean up the Merewent communities of waste and pollution, as well as educate residents on how they can earn an income, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), recently held a community engagement at Silvertree Hall in Austerville.
Tracey Fared, the deputy director of stakeholder and corporate awareness at the DFFE, said the department, in partnership with the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA), intended on creating sustainable projects that drive economic opportunities for communities.
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“We firstly identified areas where there are serious waste management issues, for example, illegal dumping. Stemming from this, we found that a lot of the disadvantaged communities do not understand the business around waste management. As national and provincial departments, we saw an opportunity, to come and speak to communities about those opportunities.
“It must be said that in the Durban south basin, about 55% of people are unemployed, but don’t know they are actually sitting with access to economic opportunities,” she said.
Fared said they intend on implementing buy-back centres in the communities.
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“This would be a centre where the residents can take their recyclable products and they will be paid for whatever waste they brought in after it is weighed. The centres will also be run by the community, which would allow us to have a sustainable initiative. We hope to roll-out of these centres during this month,” she said.
Fared said another initiative of the department’s forestry branch, was that they intend on planting toxin-absorbing trees in the area in commemoration of Arbor Month, this September.
“We will be planting trees and plants, such as the spekboom which is a succulent that helps fight air pollution. These will be planted in the department’s various adopt-a-spot areas. The DFFE, together with its partners are looking forward to uplifting the communities and its people,” she said.
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