Mayor Gesie van Deventer launched a brand new waste material recovery facility (MRF) in Stellenbosch on 25 March 2021. The facility will service the entire municipal area.
This state of the art facility will serve as a place where recyclables are taken to, grouped, baled and provided to companies for use as raw material in the manufacturing of new products. The sorted recyclables have a much higher value than mixed recyclables and will be easily accepted into the booming recycling market. The facility also features a public drop-off area, which will allow residents to bring garage and recyclable waste to dispose of responsibly.
The Stellenbosch landfill site reached capacity in 2019 and waste is currently transported to the City of Cape Town’s Vissershok site. The Municipality is currently investing in the expansion of its landfill site but has also shifted focus to minimising waste to landfill by reducing, reusing and recycling. The MRF will allow for recyclables to be handled and processed in Stellenbosch, allowing for faster turnaround times by eliminating the need to travel to Cape Town. At the same time, it will provide jobs to local residents registered on the unemployment database.
Construction of the facility began in August 2019 and the total budget for the project was R29 million. The MRF can process 450 tons of recyclable material per month and will employ up to 40 people once it becomes fully operational, from 1 April 2021.
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Stellenbosch Municipality
