Teach the youth how to recycle
Educating the youth will provide an example for generations to come
With the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) making recycling mandatory, educating ourselves on the subject has become a priority.
With this said, the importance of educating the youth of our country has also come under the spotlight, and The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) decided to dig deeper and find out what the recycling trends were among them.
The questions asked were about glass recycling and keeping the environment clean, and this is what the results showed:
• 74 per cent of youths between the ages of 15 and 34 recycle all their glass bottles and jars. It was also encouraging to note that 84 per cent of youths across the country recycle in general.
• 63 per cent of the youth aged 15 to 20 believe South Africa is doing enough to ensure a clean environment in the future, while 65 per cent of those aged 21 to 35 believe so as well.
• 56 per cent of South Africa’s youth feel that they are motivated to recycle their glass bottles and jars in order to help keep the environment clean, whereas 33 per cent are motivated to save the environment for their own children.
• The highest percentage of youth wanting a cleaner environment with no litter are based in KwaZulu-Natal (58 per cent), with Gauteng coming in a close second at 57 per cent.
• 46 per cent separate their glass bottles and jars by putting them out for recyclers, of which 56 per cent are based in Gauteng.
• 28 per cent of South Africa’s youth take glass bottles and jars to be recycled, either by dropping it at a glass bank or selling their glass to a buy-back centre. The highest percentage of youth that do so are based in KwaZulu-Natal (37 per cent).
• 26 per cent of youths return their bottles to a store or shebeen, with those residing in the Eastern Cape leading the way on 37 per cent.
• 59 per cent of youths believe that everyone in South Africa will have clean water in the future.
Recycling does not only prevent waste from being sent to a waste graveyard or landfill, but also has numerous benefits, including saving energy, reducing pollution, saving scarce landfill space and conserving natural resources.
For information on drop-off locations, visit https://www.tgrc.co.za or https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassRecyclingCo/.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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