East London will receive an investment boost when waste management multi-national Onyx sets up a depot in the town as part of a R50-million investment plan for South Africa.
Onyx South Africa’s chief executive Ken Bromfield said the French-based company would open sites in East London, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Durban.
He said the venture would create an estimated 100 jobs within a year.
Bromfield said the company was particularly excited about the East London area as it had a good industrial base. He said Onyx would bring more than the traditional ”hump and dump” method of waste collection.
”We will operate as a waste collection business initially but we’re going to use our vast French resources to bring in better technology, recycling methods and generally raise the par of waste collection.”
Recycling and non-core functions would be outsourced at first as Onyx did not want to take income away from existing businesses. The company’s main focus was industrial waste management and treatment in the chemical and auto industry.
”We’ll initially focus on the industrial side but we certainly also see massive opportunity on the domestic side.” – Sapa