Zille awards Green Flagship status to Reliance

Reliance is one of 17 Western Cape-based organisations to answer the Premier's call this year, and is well known for basing its operation on green principles. The 110% Green Flagship project was launched on World Environment Day 2012 as a call to action to all organisations to link with the Green Economy, by committing to it, acting on it and making an impact.

Reliance received its Green Flag status by fulfilling specific criteria that sets the company apart as an innovator of the green economy. It was accepted on the basis of its partnerships with other like-minded businesses, such as Greenpop, which Reliance supplies with compost for their tree planting endeavours. Other criteria included its recycling of Cape Town's green waste to manufacture certified organic compost.

Stringent requirements

Reliance has been taking care of the city's green waste since 2001, by recycling it and putting organic compost back into the depleted soil of the Western Cape. It has assisted other corporates to offset their carbon emissions, among these Nedbank, City Sightseeing and MixTelmatics, assisted schools throughout the province to 'green' their own environment, while educating students through recycling artwork projects, and has assisted in establishing vegetable gardens, such as the Oranjezicht City Farm - fulfilling three more of the stringent 110% Green Flagship status requirements.

Over the years Reliance has diverted around nine million cubic metres of green material from landfill sites, preventing 500 000 tons of carbon dioxide gas escaping into the atmosphere - a substantial contribution to reducing the impact caused by climate change. The company's mission is to Grow Greener Generations, and it does this by getting involved in the community, through sponsorships, tree-planting projects and developing communal food gardens.