INTERCEPTION
As the last line of defence, our River Wardens work tirelessly to ensure that ALL pollution that makes its way into our beautiful rivers and oceans is removed. They play an integral part in restoring these natural eco-systems back to their natural states.
A crucial first step of our plastic pollution prevention strategy is to work with reclaimers, who are the backbone of recycling in South Africa. Whilst we cannot recycle our way out of this problem, this offers an economic opportunity to individuals within informal settlements around South Africa. We will continue to put pressure on producers to increase these recycling streams, in order to divert more plastic from landfill sites.
Supporting these reclaimers has resulted in the prevention of already over 32 000 kilograms of plastic entering the rivers in 2023.
Litterbooms
As the last line of defence, our River Wardens work tirelessly to ensure that ALL pollution that makes its way into our beautiful rivers and oceans is removed. They play an integral part in restoring these natural eco-systems back to their natural states.
By identifying hotspots around the country with high levels of plastic pollution leakage, we aim to create strategically placed teams that can care for our river systems whilst we establish land based programmes that will be long term mitigation measures.
We have managed to prevent more than 650 000kgs of plastic from reaching the ocean since inception, so these teams are the backbone of environmental protection in the rivers in South Africa.
RECLAIMERS
Reclaimers account for over 50% of the post consumer plastic recycling in South Africa and are therefore vital in combatting plastic pollution.
By increasing the infrastructure to support these efforts, as well as advocating for fairer wages, The Litterboom Project support a number of reclaimers within their project footprint.
We believe that by supporting these efforts, in time, we will hopefully have less demand for teams working within the rivers.
BUYBACK CENTRES
Over the past year, as we have seen the success of our River Wardens and Reclaimers, we have realised the need for more tangible infrastructure to support the efforts of these individuals within their communities.
This has led us to the activation of our first Buyback Centre in the Ohlanga River community of Blackburn. Buyback centres are entities that offer payment to individuals for bringing in post-consumer materials of various natures- one of which is plastic.
Through the learnings of establishing this site, we hope to have many more activation such as this, that act as a support to the environment and community.
