Unite against Litter did a clean-up of Die Eilandhuis Beach on Thursday 21 April.
Eleven members took part, and in an hour and a half 25 bags of rubbish were collected as well as large strips of vinyl flooring, an old tyre and other waste dumped in the veld nearby.
What could be recycled was bagged separately and collected by Wastegro. The rubbish in the black bags was dropped off at the nearby Waste Station.
This was the seventh litter clean-up in St Helena Bay by Unite Against Litter this year, and the rubbish collected so far has filled 260 bags, about half of it recycled.
The local recycling crew shares some facts about waste:
. ± 2,4 million tons of waste is generated in South Africa annually. Of the 70% collected only 14% is recycled.
. The rest is taken to landfills where a considerable amount is blown away into the veld or rivers.
. Waste not collected often pollutes and chokes rivers, eventually ending up on beaches or in the sea as the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal have shown.
. 80 000 tons of plastic goes into the rivers and ocean in South Africa annually.
. Packaging is the largest component of single use plastic waste in South Africa.
. Plastic does not degrade, it breaks down into microplastics.
. Microplastic in the sea is eaten by plankton and makes its way up the food chain.
. Global production of plastic is set to double in the next few decades.
