Recycling Rubbish the Jozi Way



The process of recycling rubbish in Johannesburg is unique, inexpensive and efficient and an entrepreneurial success

The recycling of rubbish in Johannesburg is unique, to say the least. Consumers are not asked to voluntarily sort their rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable containers, like we are at home and is done in many countries and cultures these days. Instead, everything goes to the same rubbish bin (South African for garbage can) and the sorting is done later.

Early in the morning on garbage day, low-paid black laborers, alone or in crews, go through everyone’s trash and sort out the bottles, plastic, paper, etc. that are eligible for recycling, and they put the recyclable goods into a large fabric container on a flat trolley with wheels and a steering handle, and move on to the next rubbish bin row of bins. It should be noted, that they leave the bins and surrounding area well-swept and tidy, better than if they had never been there, and the bins are about half-full when they leave.

Some recyclers are self-employed, while others  work for African entrepreneurs

 

Plastics, bottles, paper and cardboard cartons and boxes are removed and put in containers

Some loads can get very tall and heavy, and the steering handle doubles as a brake

When the recycling container is full, it is pulled by hand, seemingly always uphill, to the nearest recycle center, where the rubbish pickers are paid for their work (by quantity and quality) and the recycling process continues. We are amazed every Tuesday, as we go for our walk or drive to the Area Office, to see this entrepreneurial process in action, up and down the streets of the neighborhoods in Johannesburg. It seems so organized and efficient. And the workers seem happy earning their daily wages.

This is not a government project or even government-sponsored, but truly an enterprise that handles the process far less expensively and more efficiently than the government could ever do it, so the government simply allows it to happen. And everyone seems very happy with the end result every week. A whole lot of jobs are provided to otherwise unemployed Africans. One company works daily to improve the quality of the containers and another the trolleys, to keep enhancing the process as it goes forward.

 We have much more respect for these recycling workers than those who just go to the streets begging (left, always in the middle of the road at busy intersections, in dark clothing).

We also have respect for the many self-employed snack men, like this one on Riviera Road, who sets up his little "shop" at 6:30 every morning and sells snack chips and candy all day long to pedestrian passers by and seems to make a living.