GTP’s trolley project is helping Bellville become cleaner, greener and more caring
Submitted by: Hilary Alexander
Businesses in Bellville have diverted two tons of recyclable business waste from landfill in just four weeks, thanks to an innovative social upliftment and recycling project led by the Greater Tygerberg Partnership (GTP), Voortrekker Road Corridor Improvement District (VRCID) and social development NGO, MES.
The project matches businesses with operators who move through Bellville with custom-designed trolleys to collect recyclable waste and remove the waste to buy-back centres in exchange for a small income. Over the past month, the GTP has been driving a challenge to increase the number of businesses signed up to the programme. Sixty four businesses are currently subscribed to the project, enabling eight trolley operators to earn an income from buy-back centres.
Monique Muller, project manager for the GTP, says: “Through the Bellville Business Recycling Champion challenge, we have been able to improve the lives of the operators currently on the programme, but it also reinforces the importance of handling our waste more responsibly, which is more critical now than ever before as the city’s landfill sites reach capacity. We want to make an even greater impact and so we’re inviting businesses to rise to the challenge with us.”
The Trolley and Recycling project was formed in 2018 in response to the need to reduce litter from informal bin-picking and to offer businesses a recycling solution rather than sending their waste to landfill. Landfills in Cape Town are at, or nearing, capacity under the mountain of waste generated by businesses and individuals every day.
Under the Trolley and Recycling project, informal waste-pickers are selected to progress through a skills development programme run by MES. Once they graduate, they are issued with high-visibility vests and custom-designed trolleys. They are then matched with local businesses to collect their waste on a regular basis. The recyclables are taken to the buy-back centres, who pay the trolley operators a small fee for each drop-off. This enables the operators to earn a more dignified income for their efforts, and to improve their lives.
The Bellville Business Recycling Champion Challenge offers businesses a chance to win R5 000 for recycling the most waste during the challenge timeline. The challenge ends on 21 June 2021. Businesses who wish to sign up should contact GTP project manager, Monique Muller by email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
The project is an extension of the GTP’s Bellville Zero Waste platform, which also includes the Bellville Zero Waste Schools programme that helps schools radically rethink the way they teach and think about waste management and waste practices.
The Greater Tygerberg Partnership is a development facilitation agency charged with a mandate to unlock Bellville’s potential as a sustainable, prosperous and inclusive leading African city. We connect people, places and partners with opportunities to build a prosperous, inclusive, sustainable Bellville. Located 20 kilometres north of Cape Town, South Africa, Bellville plays a critical role as secondary city to the Cape Town CBD. From its early beginnings as a trading post, today it is a bustling, multicultural African centre which hosts a diverse commercial environment alongside world-leading health and educational institutions. It is a highly connected, pivotal logistics hub and gateway to the continent.
