Packa-Ching recycling project launched in Thabazimbi, Limpopo
Following its successful launch in Langa, Cape Town in 2017, the Packa-Ching recycling project has expanded with its fourth recycling unit in Thabazimbi, Limpopo. The project aims to help communities keep their environments clean while learning about the benefits of recycling their packaging waste, and earning a monetary reward.
“After conducting the research, we realised that there is very little recycling infrastructure and very little awareness around the environmental and economic benefits of recycling packaging waste,” says Mandy Naudé, CEO of The Polyolefin Responsibility Organisation (Polyco), the founding organisation of Packa-Ching. “We would like to shift the behaviour with packaging waste to make people realise that it is an income-generating opportunity. We want to show people that by recycling, they can earn an income and end plastic waste in the environment at the same time.”
A typical Packa-Ching recycling unit consists of a recycling collection truck and trailer that parks at different collection points within each community for a few hours each week. Residents bring their sorted recyclables, have them weighed, and in return receive Kilorands, a monetary value, paid directly into their e-wallet, which is available on a basic feature phone and does not require a smart phone. Residents can then spend their Kilorands at participating merchants. The entire operation is mobile, and therefore recycling becomes convenient for residents and enables the removal of waste from these communities without taking up permanent land space.
“South Africa has unique social, economic and environmental conditions; and the Packa-Ching project has been created to benefit all three spheres. The Packa-Ching project offers the community members an additional income source, helps to change their behaviour towards used packaging and also helps to keep their community clean,” says Naudé.
“The launch of the fourth unit in Thabazimbi is the next phase of the Packa-Ching project, with three other units already operating in Langa, Cape Town; Ivory Park, Johannesburg and Buffalo City, East London. We aim to roll out countrywide by calling on corporate support to help the project grow. We’d like to continue to empower entrepreneurs to help address South Africa’s recycling infrastructural challenges,” says Naudé.
