Mihlenhle Mguni

Global Recycling Day

Mihlenhle Mguni graduated from the University of Zimbabwe in 2025 and is very passionate about Environmental issues. Below is an online presentation that she did

Thank you for the warm welcome🤗💚. Good evening everyone my name is Mihlenhle Mguni. I am an Environmental Fanatic and tonight my Presentation will be focusing on the Global Recycling Day: Don't Think Waste, Think Opportunity

Recycling is defined as the processing of used materials like paper, plastic, petty cans, and glass into new products, therefore reducing waste and conserving resources. In 2018, Ranjit Singh Baxi started a global recycling movement that marked 18 March as Global Recyling Day. A day every year where we promote recycling, reduction of waste, and conservation of our resources. Baxi's main aim was to change our minds from thinking of recyclables as just waste, but instead, we start to see them as resources hence Don't think waste as waste but think of opportunities. So let's look at how can benefit from waste through a circular economy (turning waste into economic opportunities). Our presentation will be primarily based on Bulawayo.

Circular Economy may be a new term for some of us, but the concept is not new. it's something we have been practising for years without realising what it is. I can safely say we have always unconsciously known waste can be turned into resources but we just never had the knowledge at our fingertips. To show you this i would you to ask yourself what you threw away today? If you feel you recycled react with this emoji♻️ and if you threw everything in one bin react with this emoji🗑. I know there is definitely someone in this group saving cans or bottled water lids in hopes of exchanging them for a product😅😅. Have you ever wondered what the person/company who collects the waste does with it?

Did you know in Bulawayo we dump around 400-500tons of waste everyday at Richmond Sanitary Landfill? This waste is made up of House hold waste, Commercial waste from shops and offices, industrial waste, construction waste and hazardous waste. Our Waste collection is around 70-80% efficient but only 10% of that gets recycled that means 90% of what we throw away is money and instead we either bury it or burn it. So in simple terms we are losing a lot of value. The waste that we regard as "idoti" is merely resources in the wrong place.

But one may ask, does all waste have value? Let's talk about it. Out of the 400 to 500 tons of daily waste collected, materials with the most value include petty cans. They have a very high demand in the market. A lot of people collect these either at Landfills or around our communities, and one can get at least USD$10 from a ton of petty cans. Cardboard is an underrated gold mine in waste. The trick is the strategy you utilize. If you collect it as just one product, you make more money than when mixing with other waste materials. Plastic is another waste material that has a good market. According to research collected from Waste Pickers, there is also copper that is found in radios and phones. It is the most expensive material. However, it is risky as it is illegal for it to be sold so i wouldn't we collect it. Other waste materials include rubber and glass even though they do not have much of a market value. The concept of recycling is that all these waste materials do not have to be buried or burned they can re-enter the market as raw materials.

The waste is mostly recycled by informal waste pickers. In Bulawayo, most of our waste pickers mainly collect their waste from Sanitary Landfills and around our communities. The biggest Sanitary Landfill being Richmond. They come from Ngozi Mine and Cowdry Park(communities around Richmond Sanitary Landfill). In recent years, people living in other communities way further from the landfill have also joined in mainly due to unemployment. They manually collect the waste, sort it out, and sell the recyclables to Waste Management companies. I can boldly call some of them Entrepreneurs, some are mothers looking for money to feed their children and fathers looking to make ends meet and unfortunately school going going children. Funny enough for me, these people do not know the real value of the waste they collect and sell on the market. They can make around $40 or more per week. A cardbox picker says on a very good week he can make as much as USD$100. On bad weeks, they can collect just $5. There is a chance they can make more if they have facilities to separate the waste they collect and sell to an accountable market. Most of the prizes of the material they sell have remained unchanged for many years despite the increasing cost of living.

Now let's have a look at challenges that waste pickaers face in failing to reach their full potential in their recycling endeavours. One big challenge is the lack of segregation.

🚮 The waste collected right from the source is not segragated, which unfortunately leads to the recyclables being contaminated, which reduces the quality and decreases the value of the materials. Therefore, the materials are unrecoverable. Proper segregation allows for cleaner, high value recyclables and more income for the collecters as well as the buyers.

♻️ Another challenge is crime and theft. As mentioned before, some of the waster pickers do not live right next to the landfill as many of their colleagues, so they leave their materials in places without proper security. Unfortunately, they get stolen overnight. This significantly reduces the expected income. Hence, they make as little as $5 or 0.

🚮 They are also health risks to consider. Waste Pickers noted they suffer from Respitory problems from exposure to dust and smoke from when some of the waste is burned. They get injuries from exposure to glass and medical waste as well as chemical exposure. Female waste pickers have also sighted chronic back pains as another cause of concern as they spend a lot of time bending. Most of them can not afford protective wear to protect them from these hazardous exposures. Segregation of waste may help significantly in reducing some of the health risks noted.

🚮 Violence and conflict are strife in these places. They are not a safe space for women and the older generation who fear being assaulted. There is high usage of substances like alcohol and drugs. So the place is not a conducive environment, and that hinders the income of waste pickers. From my understanding even Law enforcement are most of the time not eager to attend to reports from there unless someone dies. And cases of death unfortunately exist as a result of violence.

♻️ There is also the issue of a Policy Gap. A lot of cities in the world use the linear model where materials are extracted, made, used and thrown away. What we need is a circular model that promotes making the products -> using the product -> segregating the waste after the product has been used -> treating the recyclables -> remaking products -> reusing the product. Policy gaps also play a part in existence of informal state of waste pickers. Policy gaps cab be a cause of the unsafe environment they work in, it is not protected enough, so a policy that supports formalisation of waste picking would open up space for a more conducive environment where waste pickers are safe and protected.

🚮 Some businesses also face challenges in attaining waste materials. They note that their businesses are small enterprises with limited capital so they face competition from businesses that are more established and have more capital. The material that they get are not much of a high quality because it js unsegregated. It is usually contaminated and low quality and they can't do much with it.

The solution centres a Circular Economy Concept. It supports waste regeneration. Materials don't have to be waste. Instead, they are kept in circulation through mantainance, reuse, and recycling. Basically, if we tell ourselves nothing is wasted, everything has value. Let if go through the circles.

A Circular Economy concept has 3 Core Principles that include the following;

♻️ Eliminate Waste and Pollution

Design products and systems so that waste is not created in the first place.

♻️ Circulate Products and Materials

Keep materials in use at their highest value for as long as possible through reuse, repair, and recycling.

♻️ Regenerate Nature

Shift from taking from the earth to restoring and regenerating natural systems.

The best part of these principles is their inclusive they apply whether one is designing a product, running a business or managing a city's waste.

There is a lot we need to do for a better waste management system in Bulawayo.

♻️ We can advocate for a policy upgrade. We need bylaws that mandate waste segregation for better quality of recoverable materials. Waste Pickers to be formally recognised and protected and for every waste picker who doesn't pick waste at a landfill be incorporated into a system where they can also benefit. It is also important that we have a clear policy that mandates the proper market value of waste so that waste pickers are not taken advantage of.

♻️ Infrastructure allows for proper facilitation of materials recovery and proper sorting. It can assist in developing low-cost technologies that will make segregation efficient allowing for accessible recycling points across the city. I have seen recycling points at Zonkizizwe Shopping Centre in Bradfield and Pumula Old suburb. They especially help in segregation of waste at Source Level. (Do look out for those where you stay if you have them please utilize them)

♻️ At Community Level, we can all participate. I would promote skills training that allows for us as individuals to understand that waste is not merely a waste it has economic value and how to utilize that value. Comprehensive training should help us in segregating waste and conserve our resources. Private Actors may partner with Local Authorities to offer incentives for recycling. Imagine getting basics from Spar or Pick N Pay because you recycled? Or getting a free kombi ride to town because you recycled.

♻️ The concept also promotes a clean environment. It ensures reduction of carbon emissions. Ensures hazardous waste materials are handled with care, thus reducing health injuries and products, which are designed with recyclability in mind

My favourite example of successful Recycling Initiatives is of a city in Brazil called Curitiba. They have been having recycling products since the 1970s. They have a Canbio Verde program that rewards recycling with bus tickets and fresh food. Their Recycling Rates have reached approximately 70%. Waste Pickers have been integrated into a formal system.

Key Lessons to take from this example are that reward systems work. Having the public participation increases efficiency and success. Formalization of waste pickers creates dignity and stability for them

he Opportunity Summarised:

Don't Think Waste, Think Opportunity in practical terms gives us mind-blowing introspection. 400-500 tonnes of waste collected daily means 400-500 tonnes of potential raw material. Out of that, only 10% is recycled, which means there is 90% of recycling Opportunity waiting for us to utilize. I personally think its mind blowing. A lot of thought and unified action is necessary to increase profits. Waste pickers have the opportunity to make more. Resources are in abundance, and Social Capital is there.

Such opportunities create jobs. They support entrepreneurship and keep the value of the local economy.

The environment benefits, we reduce pollution by recycling, we conserve natural resources and lower emissions

The people benefit in a fair recycling system that gives them dignity, safety, and decent outcomes for those who do this work. This tallies well with one of our SDGs 8 that concentrates on decent work and economic growth.

Our city gets better waste management, which means cleaner communities, healthier residents, and alignment with global sustainability goals.

As we come towards the end of our presentation, I leave you with this final thought

Waste is not the end of the story. It's the middle. What we throw away today can become something new tomorrow. What one person discards can be another person's livelihood. What we call "waste" is actually wealth, just waiting to be recognized, recovered, and put back to use.

On Global Recycling Day, the message is simple but powerful: Don't think waste. Think opportunity.

As I end my Presentation. This is MY CALL TO ACTION

As we mark Global Recycling Day I call out to Policymakers to update the rules and Create inclusive frameworks that benefit us all. Businesses should pay for the proper market value and invest locally to support recycling opportunities. Residents let's segregate our waste and recycle, let's ask questions where needed and let us care about where our waste goes. I hope all of us see the value in what others throw away.

Thank you so much, Environmentalists, for lending me your time today. I hope we learnt something this Global Recyling Day. I hope when we see Waste, we don't think of idoti😅🙃we think of wealth of opportunities.

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