PROJECTS

• Enviromark supports BIG EVENTS in 2008
• PFSA exhibits at the SABC Careers Exhibition
• PFSA at the Launch of National Science Week 2008
• Kruger National Park baled out by sponsors?
• Big Events
• Are you ready to Recycle - new Education Programme from NRF
• Take Nothing but Photos, leave nothing but bubbles...
• Green Cages

COMPETITIONS

• The 2008 Fantastic Plastics Competition is underway. To download the entry form, click here, or send an email to Delanie Bezuidenhout requesting an entry form.
• Fantastic Plastics 2007 - read all about last year's competition.

FOR THE EDUCATOR

• Booklet - Its All about Plastics (PDF file: size - 1.5Mb)

  The Enviromark initiative has not forgotten about the Educators and learners. A 24-page A4 poster booklet, "It's all about Plastics – Material of choice" is available at no charge. This booklet is used as a source of reference for the essay competition, and formed part of The National Education Department's external assessment (CTA – Common Task Assessment) for Grade 9 in the November 2007 (Technology) examinations. Emphasis has been placed on plastics identification, processes and recycling.

• If you require a poster booklet to be posted to you, please send a request e-mail to Delanie Bezuidenhout.

• Plastics Identification Code - what are the various polymer logos?

• 10 Facts about Plastics

• Are you ready to recycle? Why throw your waste away? Waste can actually be useful. It can be re-used or recycled. Collect waste for recycling and thereby win with waste. Download the leaflet "Win with Waste" and find out how to set up a drop off/buy back centre.

• An Educator's guide and lesson guides. A new outcomes-based education programme for intermediate phase learners (grades 4–6) on making wise choices about waste and thereby reducing the amount of litter lying around on the streets and veld, reducing the harmful effect of waste that is not handled correctly and reducing the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of.” . The programme, based on the life cycle of products made from steel, glass, paper and plastics, includes an Educator’s Guide and lesson guides consisting of illustrations and activities with the following themes:

• TAKE (raw materials from the environment)
• MAKE (products)
• BUY (products)
• USE AND RE-USE (products)
• RECYCLE (resulting in fewer raw materials required from the environment)
• THROW AWAY (waste products)

The programme is available as a free download from the NRF website http://www.recycling.co.za/educator.h

Carbon Footprint - Where does one start?
Download the Happy Household Map by clicking here. Courtesy of City of Cape Town - Solid Waste Management Department

• Poster / Advert - Do not litter? Think Twice. Take the Step.

PlasticEurope's "Energy is our Future" Programme

In its second year, Plastic Europe's “Energy is our Future” school programme continues to focus on enhancing and supporting energy education across the curriculum in schools. The programme is intended to raise awareness on how energy consumption might affect climate change and how advanced materials such as plastics can help save energy and create a sustainable future. For more on this programme visit their website at www.Futurenergia.org

The NSW is an annual country-wide event led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), supported by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement ( SAASTA).

The week has been themed “Tomorrow’s science and technology is in our youth’s hands” for the past four years, as part of the DST’s five-year (2005-2009) plan to develop branding for it. It is aimed at highlighting the important role science plays in everyday life and attracting the country’s youth to take science related studies.

This year, the NSW ran from 10 - 17 May 2008 and offered many exciting opportunities for learners, teachers, students, academics, parents and the public at large to get involved in science based activities, including among others: teacher and learner workshops, science competitions and exhibitions, public talks, lectures and seminars, career exhibitions and learner outreach activities as well as tours of the country’s major science facilities.

The Enviromark team was be there! Meli Bleki, our Environmental Officer, represented the Plastics Federation at various exhibitions countrywide with a “Fantastic Plastic” display and also provided visiting learners with information on careers in the fantastic field of Plastic!

The NSW plays a crucial role in ongoing DST activities aimed at the further development of human capital and underlines efforts to increase the number of young people entering the science, engineering and technology fields and remaining there as part of the national pursuit of sustainable socio-economic growth.

For more details contact Isaac Ramovha at 012 843 6879 or isaac.ramovha@dst.gov.za, Jabu Nukeri at 012 392 9335 or jabu@saasta.ac.za; or Erna Rossouw at 012 392 9300 or erossouw@saasta.ac.za or visit the Saasta website.

PFSA at the SABC Careers Exhibition

The Plastics Federation recently participated in the annual SABC Careers Exhibition, held in various provinces. Besides our stand winning "Best Stand Award", Meli Bleki, Environmental Officer, was invited to speak on the event on a local KwaZulu Natal radio station, Ukhozi FM.

We are very proud to announce that the Federation's stand won "Award for the Best Stand" at this year’s Faire in Polokwane.

The Faire included a career cinema and various exhibitions - from corporate companies to institutions of higher learning. With “Plastics” being part of the school syllabus in the subject field of “Technology”, learners and teachers alike were attracted to the Federation’s stand by its interactive “organic” nature where they got to feel the different plastic materials exhibited in our “laboratory-like fish tanks”. At the stand, learners were taught how to differentiate between the various plastics by using the polymer identifying logos; the importance of plastics as the MATERIAL OF CHOICE, and the necessity for recycling plastics materials.

The Faires visited four provinces namely KZN (Durban), Limpopo (Polokwane), W/Cape (Cape Town) & Gauteng (Roodepoort). The first stop this year was at the Greyville Racecourse in Durban.

Enviromark supports BIG EVENTS in 2008

One of the Enviromark's "Plastics Litter Strategies" for 2008 and the future is to identify and support BIG EVENTS such as sports, concerts and rallies and to gear up for a world event such as the 2010 World Cup Soccer. Together with PETCO, Nampak Liquid Packaging, Atlantic Plastics and Fairest Cape Association, the Enviromark assisted with plastics waste management of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Race, which took place in Cape Town on Sunday 9 March 2008. The Enviromark team, armed with bright yellow T-shirts, caps, refuse bags and loads of enthusiasm, focused on creating an awareness of the litter generated at such events. They encouraged the public to "THINK TWICE and TAKE THE STEP" towards an effective clean-up campaign during and after the race. Saturday, 22 March 2008 saw our teams involved with similar gusto and enthusiatic support at the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon which started in Noordhoek, Cape Town. The good news is that all plastics sachets and bottles collected will be recycled.

“Congratulations to the Plastic Federation of South Africa for taking the first step in educating the South African public about the realities of litter on our country's roads.  As runners we have first hand knowledge of the slobs that South Africans are. All sorts of rubbish is flung from cars on roads across our beautiful country. While running next to the road, it is difficult to ignore this fact, and an aggressive litter awareness campaign is the only solution.”  (Bruce Fordyce – 9 times Comrades Marathon winner)

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Kruger National Park baled out by sponsors?

The disposal of waste created by the human race will always be a major challenge in big cities and populated centres. But how does South Africa’s largest game sanctuary, the Kruger National Park, cope with tons of waste produced by its more than a million visitors annually?

Thanks to the commitment of industry players such as Petco, Buyisa-e-Bag and the Plastics Federation of South Africa, a baling machine was donated to the Park, as part of our environmental responsibility to “protect our national heritage”. The machine was unveiled at Skukuza’s Waste Disposal Site recently.

Historically, the Kruger National Park used to burn all its rubbish – which was not an ideal solution, for obvious reasons, but now, thanks to the new baling machine and various other recycling projects, burning has been reduced by 70%. An agreement between the Kruger National Park and the Plastics Federation of South Africa has now been signed, marking an end to all plastic rubbish burning in South Africa’s most famous national park.

Sack-loads of plastic bottles and containers are fed into the baler's wide mouth, and with a touch of a button, the blue machine shakes into life, building up the power that grinds and bales the waste. A bale of tightly packed plastics emerges, ready to be loaded on a truck and taken to plastics recycling plants outside the Park.

“We don’t see plastic bottles as mere rubbish,” says Mr Syd Carter from Petco, “but as a valuable resource that can be recycled into carpet fibres, synthetics and other commercially viable products.”

Mr Hennie Neethling from Buyisa-e-Bag explained further:

“The problem with recycling is that mass is required, not volume. Recycling plants pay very little for a truckload of plastic bottles if they are simply dumped into the load area of the vehicle and driven to the plant. However, with a baling machine, you are able to compress at least six large bags of plastic into one compact bale which certainly does have a significant value.”

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EDUCATION PROGRAMME: ARE YOU READY TO RECYCLE?

Mr Ray Lombard, Chairman of the National Recycling Forum (NRF), announces the publication of “Are you Ready to Recycle?”, an outcomes-based education programme for intermediate phase learners (grades 4–6) on making wise choices about waste.

The programme, based on the life cycle of products made from steel, glass, paper and plastics, includes an Educator’s Guide and lesson guides consisting of illustrations and activities with the following themes:

• TAKE (raw materials from the environment)
• MAKE (products)
• BUY (products)
• USE AND RE-USE (products)
• RECYCLE (resulting in fewer raw materials required from the environment)
• THROW AWAY (waste products)

The National Recycling Forum (NRF) is a non-profit organisation created to promote the recovery and recycling of recyclable materials in South Africa. Members of the NRF include representatives of the formal recycling industry in South Africa and all levels of government.

“In publishing this programme,” states Lombard, “the NRF aims to educate learners on how to handle waste correctly, how to avoid creating unnecessary waste and how to reduce waste already created. The learners will be able to make informed choices about waste, and thereby reduce the amount of litter lying around on the streets and veld, reduce the harmful effect of waste that is not handled correctly and reduce the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of.”

"We invite all Grade 4–6 educators to use “Are You Ready to Recycle?” to help you to meet the requirements of the curriculum,” says Lombard.

The programme is available as a free download from the NRF website http://www.recycling.co.za/educator.htm

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Take Nothing but Photos, leave nothing but bubbles...

Did you know....
That Aliwal Shoal has been declared a Marine Protected Area and decreed a "pristine reef"...

Aliwal Dive Charters have been and always will be protective of Aliwal shoal and its marine environment. It is not only part of their life but also an integral part of their livelihood. Diving here reveals a phenomenal diversity of life. In order to demonstrate to visitors and fellow divers, just how seriously they take their marine environmental responsibility, they came up with an innovative idea. All litter collected over a 6 month period is placed in a glass tank, so that the guilty litterbugs become more obvious. Some of the haul is diving equipment which has been accidentally dropped. Unfortunately the rest seems to be fishing line and beer cans, the responsibility for which lies squarely with the fishermen (fishing on the reef is also now against the law).

The most important aspect is that, besides this, there is very little rubbish or litter, demonstrating what a good condition the reef is in despite the huge volume of industrial effluent discharged near the reef every day. Unfortunately they have no control over this aspect .

Thankfully, Nampak are as passionate about Aliwal as they are and every year an international beach clean up day organised. It bodes well to know that even with a dedicated team of cleaners this year there was so little rubbish it didn’t even fill one bag. Well done all! Long may it last!

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Green Cages

One of the most successful activities running under the auspices of the plastics environmental initiative is the Green Cage Project. This entails the positioning of large, green cages at conveniently situated sites around the country. These provide environmentally conscious communities with a facility in which to place all plastic waste.

Collected waste is given to newly formed one-person businesses at no charge, for sorting and grading in order to add value. These entrepreneurs then sell the various types of plastics to specialist recyclers.

There are a number of advantages associated with this project.

For the public at large it provides a convenient method for the disposal of used plastic articles; it creates an improved image of plastics, and it increases recycling awareness. It is also hoped that the availability of these cages will assist in reducing litter, particularly of plastic items. For a list of cage locations, click on the appropriate link at the bottom of this page. Eight plastic recovery stations have been brought online in the Western Cape and Gauteng - for a comprehensive list of municipal drop-off sites, click here.

For entrepreneurs, it provides job creation and financial gain, and for local authorities it assists in extending the life of landfill sites.

Green Cages are sponsored not only by the plastics industry, but also by local authorities and private companies who see the project as an ideal way of assisting the community by addressing the problems and not merely the symptoms.

Over a 12-month period, an average of 12 million items of waste are collected. This includes carrier bags, plastics piping, milk bottles, beverage bottles, margarine tubs and dustbins. There are currently about 80 cages placed nationally at major cities. See the location list

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National Competition for Grade 10, 11 and 12 Learners

"Plastic is Fantastic!" So says The Enviromark – the plastic industry's environmental initiative, the Plastics Federation of South Africa, Buyisa-e-Bag, PETCO, Toyota, Pick n Pay Hypermarket Moffet Branch, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and SABC Education. This year's competition focused on two Learning areas:

Our winners on the beach, and whalewatching in Nelson Mandela Bay

It was very appropriate that this year's winners were treated to a fun-filled weekend in the friendly City of Port Elizabeth. Did you know that Port Elizabeth is also a winner? The City of Port Elizabeth is the proud winner of "The Cleanest City in South Africa" title.On Friday, 14th September, our Prizewinners were flown in from far and wide, and Pick 'n Pay were at the Port Elizabeth airport to welcome them with sports bags filled with real treats, as well as pocket money for the weekend! Toyota very kindly provided us with a Quantum bus and Prius to transport our winners around town in style and comfort. After visiting the aquarium, and enjoying the antics of the father and son team of dolphins, our valued sponsors, and VIP winners and their teachers, got together for dinner at a restaurant overlooking Algoa Bay. Saturday, the official International Coastal Clean up Day, was a bustle of activity as busloads of children arrived at Pine Lodge to participate in the beach clean-up. Brightly clothed groups scuttled up and down the beach, collecting everything from discarded toothbrushes and takkies, to fishing line and bottles.Yellow bags quickly filled up, and dotted the beach - evidence of lots of activity and lots more litter! These bags were later collected and removed by Enviroserve, a regional waste collection company.

The prizegiving took place at Pine Lodge, where each winner received their prize money of R5000, together with gifts from The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, SAPPI and Pick n Pay. The winning schools also received R5000 each, to spend on Fantastic Plastics products, as they pleased.

Our prizewinners had an experience of a lifetime on Sunday morning, when they were taken on a boat ride to track the whales down. Not only were we lucky enough to pass schools of dolphins and a rather rotund seal! We spent two hours at sea, following the 7 whales (6 humpback, and 1 Southern Right), who dutifully performed every possible trick for the group. What a spectacular end to a perfect weekend!

This clean up campaign formed part of the Plastics Federation of SA's contribution to International Coastal Clean Up Day on 15 September 2007 and National Cleanup Week from 10-15 September 2007.

The national prize winners are:

LEARNING AREA: LANGUAGE
Students were asked to design a booklet on the application of Plastics in the automotive industry.

• Timmy Joji - Kismet Combined School, Vryburg
• Luke Jenkins – Weston Agricultural College, Mooiriver

LEARNING AREA: PHYSICAL SCIENCE/APPLIED SCIENCE
This was a Group entry, required to produce a report on the feasibility of a plastic waste collection system for plastics recycling at their school. The winners were from Vredenburg High School, Vredenburg:

• Johan du Toit
• Anthony Harvett
• Derik Basson

Thank you, ONCE AGAIN, to our generous sponsors - we could not have done it without YOU!