RNF continues support for community recycling initiatives
The Recycle Namibia Forum (RNF) announced that a third recycling collection bin, or igloo, has been handed over to the City of Windhoek (CoW) Solid Waste Management (SWM) division in celebration of World Environment Day (5 June).The igloo is part of a “collection hub” to be set up at the offices of SWM in the Northern Industrial Area. This will make it possible for residents and businesses in the area to correctly dispose of a variety of items, which includes recyclables, household batteries as well as e-waste.
The e-waste bin was donated by fellow RNF member, NamiGreen.
RNF sourced three recycling igloos in early 2020 as part of its commitment to enable communities to have a collection point for their recyclables. The igloos are ideal in that they can hold a one-tonne bag for mixed recyclables, and it is built in such a manner that the contents cannot be contaminated by adverse weather conditions or blown out of the container.
The first RNF igloo was donated in March 2021 to the Development Workshop Namibia’s sanitation point in Samora Machel, run in conjunction with CoW SWM division. This project has developed to such an extent that the recycling area had to be expanded.
To date, more than 120 one-tonne bags of recyclables have been filled by Beata Gebhardt, who runs this recycling component, and her team.
The second igloo was donated to Henties Bay Recycling in September 2021, given that the community has been actively and effectively collecting recyclables from households across the town, and the igloo offered a solution as a central collection point.
Gideon Hengari, Section Scientist: Licensing Research and Education of SWM at the CoW, said that the two bins came at an opportune time to form part of their collection point for recyclables at their office premises.
On the collection of e-waste, which is the fastest growing waste stream, Per Hansen of NamiGreen said that, “we are proud to team up with the CoW and RNF to provide an additional and safe collection point for e-waste”.
RNF chairperson Jose-Luis Pretorius reiterated that partnerships between the various members of the RNF ultimately assist and enable the community in “doing the right thing” and responsibly disposing of their waste, which highlights the RNF’s slogan of “Taking hands today for a cleaner Namibia tomorrow”.