TopTV recycles old billboards

The billboard recycling projects identified by TopTV's chief marketing officer Elouise Kelly are Emakhazeni Development Trust in Dullstroom and Soil for Life, based in Cape Town. "We had no idea what to do with the 'old' billboards. We were very aware of the impact on the environment regarding dumping them and adding to our carbon footprint in getting them back to the head office in Johannesburg," Kelly says. "After some research, I found these two projects and knew we had found the perfect solution to disposing of the billboards as well as contributing to the community."

Bags, aprons for fishing tourists

The Emakhazeni Development Trust initiates and manages poverty relief projects in and around Dullstroom with a strong focus on women, the youth and the disabled. One of the many projects run by The Trust is The African Home Decor Centre (better known as the Old Corner Shoppe) which provides a space for local suppliers to sell their handmade item. It also creates opportunities for small business enterprises to develop and generates enough income to employ two women from the Dullstroom township fulltime.

After receiving donations of four sewing machines and three overlockers, the centre's manager got the idea to create more jobs by converting billboard canvasses into saleable products for tourists as well as the local community. Products include bags, aprons as well as fishing bags (Dullstroom is renowned for its trout fishing). Because of the nature of the material used, no item looks the same and can be personalised even further, with a recycling slogan like "I used to be a TopTV billboard." The manager hopes to revive a sewing group and create 12 additional sewing jobs with this with this rather clever enterprise.

Protecting plants

The second initiative identified is a Cape Town based NGO which gives people from diverse communities the skills to grow their own food. This is done through training programmes focused on organic food gardening using water-wise, low-cost, environment-friendly methods.

In March this year, Soil For Life took second place at the Climate Change Leadership Awards in the Community Sector Category and in 2007 it won the Cape Times and Vodacom Environmental award. Pat Featherstone, director of Soil For Life is always in need of old billboards as they are used for lining the main nursery pond, compost covers, nursery roofing and sun protection for the plants.

Other uses

Although green awareness is growing in South Africa, PVC (flex face) billboards remain a major concern as industrial waste in landfills. Because of its durability and UV resistance, this material does not degrade, however it is these properties, which make the PVC billboards recyclable. Abroad it is often used to line landfills, preventing the contamination of ground water, and closer to home it is being used to line dams.

Another idea for recycled billboards is to use them as canvases for artwork in the community. One coat of paint is sufficient to hide the original design and the canvas provides a fresh and inexpensive canvas for aspiring artists. An organisation in the US does something similar with artworks fetching up to US$15 000 (about R110 000) in shows in California.