The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) has called on residents and businesses to exercise caution and follow protocols for the safe handling and disposal of all types of waste, especially hazardous waste.
“Failure to do so exposes people to serious health hazards,” Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Public Health, Thsonono Buyeye warned.
The call follows the unfortunate death of a 13-year-old child, who is suspected to have consumed a poisonous substance from a refuse bag in Bluewater Bay recently.
Following the unfortunate incident, the city’s Waste Management Sub-Directorate, under the Public Health Directorate, has embarked on an intensive stakeholder awareness and engagement programme to empower the public and businesses regarding guidelines on how to safely manage hazardous waste.
Buyeye said the stakeholder awareness and engagement programme will form part of a project called the Separation at Source Programme (SSP), which is currently underway.
“Separation at Source is a practice of sorting waste materials into different categories (like paper, plastic, glass and, etc.) at the point where they are generated, like in a household or factory, before they are disposed of, essentially preventing recyclable materials from going to landfills by separating them from other waste streams at the source,” Buyeye explained.
Buyeye said the sessions will include public education meetings, including door-to-door registration in Blue Water Bay, where the second phase of the SSP will be introduced on Tuesday.
Addressing the residents during a recent public engagement meeting in Bluewater Bay, Buyeye committed that the work currently underway will place special focus on hazardous waste handling and disposal.
“We will be working in partnership with waste pickers, households, businesses and the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) to improve in this area. It is unfortunate that the child’s death occurred at the time when the Directorate was about to launch the SSP in Bluewater Bay and surrounding areas,” Buyeye said.
He said engagements with business will include the education of businesses on the separation of recyclable and non-recyclable materials, with the intention of reducing the opportunity for waste reclaimers accessing dangerous waste items, and to ensure that hazardous substances are safely disposed of.
Buyeye said that the directorate is also engaging with the Nelson Mandela University to get access to, and benefit from the wealth of knowledge and expertise in various fields, including environmental science, waste management and chemical safety.
“The municipality also hopes to benefit from the university’s research to improve its waste management practices, especially concerning the safe handling and disposal of chemicals,” Buyeye said. – SAnews.gov.za
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