South Africa is fast running out of landfill capacity to manage its 54 million tons of waste generated annually. Despite various recycling initiatives over the past two decades, only 7.5% of South Africans recycle domestic waste. Improved recycling opportunities not only reduces the demand for landfill sites, but also minimises environmental impact and decreases the unsustainable need for materials. Recycling collection is key to supporting increased recycling, repurposing and reuse.
Recycling collectors work in varied spaces, following established routes through residential streets, business and industrial spaces. They can work long hours and be exposed to dangerous materials.
Recycling collectors require a good understanding of the type of materials that can be recycled. They will additionally benefit from:
Collect and load recycling materials into collection bins or vehicles
Return empty recycling bins
Manually sort recycling materials into appropriate categories
Offload recycling materials at formal collection sites
No formal qualification is required; however, training is attained on the job amongst other experienced collectors.
Recycling centres.
Waste management companies.
