01 Jun 2021

Cleanico, a waste management company, has launched a recycling campaign dubbed ‘We Care’ in an effort to engage the public on waste segregation.

Speaking during the event on Monday in Tlokweng, Cleanico general manager, Ms Ketsile Orapeleng said they aimed to zero the waste that went to the landfill, saying it would be achieved by raising awareness and educating Batswana that waste and recyclable material was wealth.

“The reason why we call recyclable material wealth is that we run a buy back centre, and people collect waste from their communities and bring it to us and get paid for it,” she said.

 She said it could also assist in reducing poverty as well as pollution in the environment.

She noted that on average a waste collector earned between P5 000 and P10 000 per month, saying it could eradicate poverty.

Through the campaign, she said the company distributed refuse bags and educated the public on the segregation of waste at source.

She said the motive behind the initiative was to help create awareness about recycling.

“We all have a responsibility as individuals to keep our environment clean for future generations,” she said.

Ms Orapeleng said the campaign encouraged cleaning homes and offices, starting from Gaborone to other parts of the country. She said the public would be made aware of the importance of recycling and shown how to recycle.

She added that it would lead to successful recycling and reducing the amount of waste going to landfills which would lead to zero waste.

She highlighted that they aimed to partner with eight districts in an effort to zero waste to landfills. Ms Orapeleng also noted that they trained individuals and companies who collected waste. 

“We assist them to create processes and procedures for their facilities in order to deliver to our expectations,” she said.

She also noted that the initiative was sponsored by Coca Cola, saying they had an international mandate for every bottle, can or plastic that they took to the market to come back.“They are, therefore, determined to be there for this campaign to be a success,” she said.

For his part, Cleanico marketing manager, Mr Isaac Kgosiyareng said they would provide statistics as evidence that they were reducing waste at landfills.

 He urged different stakeholders to support their campaign, saying it had the potential to reduce pollution.Mr Kgosiyareng noted that their waste bags had information  on how to segregate waste, also emphasising that waste was wealth.

The training manager, Mr Chris Gabana said they aimed to make everyone aware of the benefits of recycling. He added that it would assist government in terms of employment. “If more people are aware, they could bring waste to our centres and that would be self-employment,” he added. ends