Our better. bellville. together. initiative aligns closely with the ethos of a circular economy in which waste is re-used and recycled instead of going to landfills.
According to the GreenCape Waste Market Intelligence Report 2022, opportunities in the organics, plastics, and e-waste sectors could add between R320 million and R5billion in value to the local economy annually.
The Cape Town metropolitan area alone generated between 538,050 to 619,760 tonnes of organic waste, with a significant portion landfilled, representing a potential value-add of up to R3.2 billion per year.
Our better. bellville. together. initiative is diverting an estimated 81 tonnes of food waste annually from landfills, with the potential of 243 tonnes. By converting this waste into valuable compost through the Mould Empower Serve (MES) composite made locally, the initiative is current creating 60 cubic metres of compost per year, with the potential to increase it to 276 cubic metres of compost per year.
This compost is used by MES, a local social development organisation, for their food and public gardens, which are managed by the Voortrekker Road Corridor Improvement District (VRCID), for the fourteen public gardens they upkeep.
Alderman James Vos said that in addition to promoting greener spaces and urban agriculture, our initiative’s efforts are yielding significant economic and environmental benefits. Repurposing organic waste into compost, collected by the better. bellville. together. organics waste collection team, local businesses and civic institutions are experiencing substantial waste cost savings.
Selwa Riquest, an informal trader who has benefited from the better. bellville. together. initiative, shared her experience and said Bellville looks much cleaner now and that her customers are loving the alternative packaging options.
She also said that our team are doing a particularly good job, and that she sees the better. bellville. together. teams walking around in the Bellville CBD checking up on the terminus and that it really is helpful.
Additionally, better. together. as an initiative is reducing the financial burden on municipal waste management systems, allowing for more efficient allocation of public resources.
The compost produced by these waste projects provides an annual saving of R36,000 for Voortrekker Road Corridor Improvement District (VRCID), which uses 30 cubic metres of locally made compost instead of purchasing it externally. Furthermore, our initiative is playing a crucial role in alleviating landfill airspace pressures in the Western Cape, where most municipalities are facing critical shortages.
Looking ahead, our better. bellville. together. initiative aims to expand its reach and impact, by increasing the scale of waste diversion and compost production to further enhance economic benefits, create even more jobs, and support the region’s sustainability goals.
We proud to say that this initiative’s success serves as a model for other communities facing similar challenges, demonstrating the power of local action and collaboration in achieving wider environmental and economic objectives.
For more information about better. bellville. together. and how to get involved send your email: [email protected].
