How separation at source will protect our environment and support the economy
According to available statistics, South Africans generate roughly 122 million tonnes of waste a year, with a mere 10% recycled or recovered for other uses. Ninety percent is landfilled, dumped illegally or lost to the environment.
“That’s nearly two tonnes of waste per person per year that goes into the ground or is lost to the environment,” says Edith Leeuta, CEO of Fibre Circle, the producer responsibility organisation for the South African paper and paper packaging sector. “Imagine the difference every single person could make to our planet and our economy by separating recyclables for reuse in new products, and composting organic and food waste?”
While more than 1.2 million tonnes of paper and paper packaging is diverted from landfill every year, a significant amount of useful paper gets contaminated by food, liquids and other waste in refuse bins, thereby reducing its suitability for recycling.
Think before you throw
“With a little bit of thought and a few extra bins or containers around the home, each and every South African can change their rubbish to recycling ratio,” she notes. Ideally your recycling bins should be bigger than your landfill waste bins too.
Start with a quick waste audit in your home or office:
- How many rubbish bins do you have in your home?
- How many recycling bins do you have?
- How much refuse goes out with the weekly municipal collection?
- How much could you be keeping away from landfill by recycling?
- Do the people in your home understand the concept of recycling and separating waste?
“Separating waste — and keeping it separate — is a big win for the recycling industry,” adds Leeuta.
Separation-at-source — The first step in the greater recycling process doesn’t have to start and stop in the kitchen. A variety of household paper products, especially packaging commonly found in the bathroom, home office, or right at your front door, can be recycled into new paper products.
Leeuta suggests placing small paper recycling bins in various areas of your home: at the front door, in your home office, bathrooms and the kitchen are all great places. This makes it easier and more convenient to get into the recycling habit.
Always ensure that a recyclable paper-based item is dry, clean and free of food residue.
Know the difference between ‘recyclable’ and ‘locally recycled’
Recyclable means that a product can be recycled into a new or similar product either via a standard or specialised recycling process.
There are many paper products that are recyclable using standard recycling processes. There are also some products that are conditionally compatible with the standard recycling process, meaning that those materials can affect the efficiency of the process and the output quality of the recycled material (also known as recyclate).
However, even if something is recyclable in theory, it does not mean that it can be collected efficiently or recycled locally, or recycled in practice. Things like little sugar sachets and straw paper coverings are fully recyclable, but are difficult or uneconomical to collect due to their size.
Locally recycled means that a product is processed in South Africa using available technology. “Recycling is about value in volumes. Whether paper, plastic, glass or tin, recycling is a volumes-driven exercise,” explains Leeuta.
For a product to be recycled, it needs to be commercially viable to do so using standard recycling or specialised processes. This means large volumes of the same paper grade or type need to be processed at the same time to ensure economies of scale.
In some cases, special pulping and processing technology is required to extract the paper fibres before they can enter the paper machine, which can increase the cost of recycling.
Something might be recyclable, but is not easy to recycle or not recycled widely. For example, some products require special technology to extract the raw material, such as paper fibre, for reuse. Examples include used milk and juice cartons, also known as liquid board packaging, and paper cups. There are only two mills in South Africa that have the capacity to recycle cups and cartons, and they are both based in Gauteng.
Furthermore, waste reclaimers and traders may not take certain items as they are deemed low value for them, considering the distances they need to travel and the volumes they are carrying.
Know your reasons
Finding a reason to recycle is vital in changing one’s attitude and behaviour, says Leeuta.
Landfills are taking strain
Recycling reduces the amount of waste going to landfills, which are already stressed. For every tonne of paper that is collected, three cubic metres of landfill space is saved.
Today’s grocery delivery, tomorrow’s cardboard box
Paper is a raw material and used to make new products such as cardboard boxes, paper bags, toilet paper and facial tissue. By keeping used paper and paper packaging clean and dry, and away from wet waste, you help to keep it in good condition for its next life. A recent study found that the paper fibres in cardboard boxes could be recycled up to 25 times before the fibres become too unusable.
Your “trash” is someone’s treasure
Recycling is a source of income for an estimated 60 000 to 90 000 men and women countrywide, and some recyclables are like gold for waste collectors.
You can make a collector’s work cleaner, quicker and easier by keeping certain recyclables out of your bin and in a separate bag or box.
Recyclable paper items include used office paper, brown cardboard boxes, clean packaging such as cereal, toothpaste, pizza and takeaway boxes, grocery delivery bags and take-away bags, paper cups and milk and juice cartons.
You can also put aside plastic milk bottles, PET soft drink bottles, fabric softener bottles, aluminium soft drink cans and tin cans.
It is, however, a good idea to find out what your neighbourhood collectors take; they may only take certain items, and this may differ from area to area.
Image (C) Philip Mostert pmphoto.co
Get it sorted – from the bathroom to the kitchen sink
You might be throwing away paper products or packaging that you didn’t know are recyclable. You may be astounded by the number of common household materials that can be recycled.
Bathroom:
- Cardboard tubing from the toilet paper roll
- Paper packaging used for toiletries like toothpaste, cosmetics or tissues
- Boxes and inserts used for over the counter medicine
Office:
- Paper cups (these are recyclable but there is limited recycling capacity)
- Office/printing paper, notebooks (minus wire binding and laminated covers)
- Magazines and reports
- Paperback books – you could donate old books to a library or community centre but for those that are too worn and torn, a new life awaits through recycling
The front door:
- Post – if you still get any, including envelopes and advertising mail
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Cardboard boxes from your online shopping
Kitchen:
- Boxes from cereal, biscuits, tea, pasta, doggy treats and other dry goods
- Milk or juice cartons (these are recyclable but there is limited recycling capacity)
- Pizza boxes and other clean takeaway packaging (always remove food residue)
- Egg cartons and take-away cup holders
- Grocery delivery bags and paper shopping bags from retail stores or restaurants
- Tubing from kitchen towel rolls
Various types of plastics, tins and cans, and glass bottles and jars are also recyclable, so don’t forget to recycle those too.
What’s the end goal?
“It is important to know where your recyclables will go,” advises Leeuta. “If your area does not have a recycling programme, put your recyclables out for a waste collector, or look into a paid collection service. You can also drop off at a community centre or school that earns money from recycling.”
Paper recycling is not about saving trees!
Leeuta cautions, “We need to bust the myth that recycling paper saves trees because in South Africa, paper is produced from sustainably managed forests, which are farmed for the purpose of making wood and paper products.”
This “farming” entails planting, growing, harvesting, and importantly, replanting with a lot of science and environmental management in between. According to the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa, less than 10% of the total plantation area (676 000 hectares) is harvested annually — and it is replanted in the same year.
Also, while these trees are growing, they take up carbon dioxide, make carbohydrates using energy from the sun and release oxygen.
Trees store carbon in their wood. Even when wood is chipped, pulped and made into paper, the carbon stays locked up.
By recycling our paper, we ensure that this carbon remains locked up for longer.