Absence of recycling infrastructure a challenge

26 Sep 2013

The growing population and economy increased complexity of waste streams. Limited understanding of waste flows, the policy and regulatory environment as well as the absence of a recycling infrastructure in South Africa poses great challenges that need to be overcome.

This was the message by guest speaker Sarah Edwards from RWS Environmental Consultancy in the United Kingdom, at the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa's (IWMSA) conference which was recently held in Port Elizabeth.

One of the highlights of the day was Nick Chapman, manager of Central Plant Engineering at Volkswagen South Africa, who shared insights into the automotive manufacturer's Think Blue.Factory. initiative. Chapman indicated that ecological sustainability is amongst the most important challenges in becoming the ecological number one in the automotive market.

In addition, Prof Maarten de Wit, from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) added by sharing insights on how to get earth back on track through a new discipline called Earth Stewardship Science.