Klipvalley Primary School wins City’s waste recycling award

26 June 2017

 

Jubilation and ululation filled the air when Klipvalley Primary School was presented with the first prize of the Healthy Living Through Recycling Awards at the Dorothy Nyembe Environmental Education Centre in Mofolo South, Soweto, in Region D on Friday June 23.

 

Klipvalley was awarded the prestigious prize for the most collected recyclable waste, beating neighbours Slovoville and Lufhereng primary schools for the bragging rights.

The competition was run by the City of Johannesburg’s Environmental Health Department in Region D.
Children from the three schools – all in Ward 53 – were presented with trophies and certificates in recognition of their efforts and for helping to put the significance of recycling at the top of the City’s waste management agenda.

They will, over and above that, receive cash incentives from the buyback centre that will receive their recyclable waste. The prize-giving ceremony was supported by the City’s waste management entity, Pikitup, and Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo.

The event was also attended by Miss Earth South Africa Lebogang Mokoena; representatives of Reashoma, a non-governmental organisation that encourages recycling in communities; and learners from Ward 53.

Nicky Mazibuko, the City’s Environmental Health Operations Manager in Region D, said her department had decided to focus on Ward 53 because it was a “priority ward”.

“We decided to involve schoolchildren because we know that when you introduce any concept, such as environmental health education, to them they are more likely to embrace it than older people would. It is also easy for them to pass on the information to other children as well as their parents. They are also most likely to tell them how bad littering is because it affects their health,” said Mazibuko.

Neo Mabidikana, an educator and co-ordinator of the recycling project at Klipvalley Primary School, said the learners’ commendable achievement would motivate them further.

“We’re very excited. This has been a collective effort. Congratulations to the learners,” said Mabidikana.

Illegal dumping costs the City more than R170-million a year to clear it. In Region D alone, 16 illegal dumping hotspots have been identified. One of the major challenges facing Pikitup is that Johannesburg is fast running out of landfill sites to dispose of the waste.

Recycling has been identified as a key solution to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill sites. Among recycling’s major benefits is that it helps create employment in manufacturing and other sectors.