Swakopmund
In an effort to ensure Swakopmund stays clean the Swakopmund Municipality and Rent- A-Drum have opened a N$7 million waste processing plant.
Commissioned last Friday the plant, known as the Swakopmund Recycling Centre, is situated a few kilometres from Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) and currently employs 65 people, mainly men, on a full-time basis.
Speaking at the official opening the CEO of Rent-A-Drum, Gys Louw, said the new facility is large enough to accommodate the machinery required for receiving and sorting all the waste material transported to the plant.
He says recycling helps keep landfills from overflowing with garbage. Approximately 60 percent of the rubbish generated by the town can be recycled. “Recycling is the best. It saves our trees and creates a clean and safe environment.”
He says the main objective of the plant is to ensure the town stays clean, while providing much employment, especially to those who scavenge at the dump site.
“We have already employed about 30 of them on a permanent basis. The recycling facility will serve other towns such as Walvis Bay, Henties Bay, Arandis and surrounding areas. Since August 31 we collected 2.5 tonnes of waste from Swakopmund alone. You can imagine how this figure will grow once we distribute additional drums to all households in Swakopmund,” he said.
The mayor of Swakopmund Nehemia Salomon, who also attended the event, urged residents to come onboard, make use of the facility and inculcate a culture of recycling. “We have a tourist town and cleanliness is one of the most important aspects that attracts tourists,” he said.
“Our town is known for being the cleanest, so let us avoid illegal dumping of waste and focus on environmental friendly practices.”
The modern recycling plant sorts materials such as discarded cardboard boxes, trashed paper, plastics, metal cans, glass bottles, plastic bags, disused milk and juice boxes and other trashed material.