South Africa

2018 International Coastal Cleanup: South Africa.

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South Africa – 2018 International Coastal Cleanup Report.

Robben Island Cleanup. Jackie Wernberg.

For more than two decades, on every third Saturday in September, South Africans have joined

thousands of other volunteers globally with the common goal of collecting and documenting the

trash littering their coastlines.

Plastics|SA, as the South African plastics industry body, has proven throughout this period that its

concern for the leakage of plastics to the sea is not just an awareness project but transforming

actions into words.

The 2018 International Coastal Cleanup in South Africa.

The Marine Conservation Community lost a brilliant champion and

Kwazulu Natal ICC Coordinator, only a few weeks prior to the event, due

to a motorcycle accident. Caroline Reid was a generous individual with

an inquisitive mind and a caring soul. We will miss her and her infectious

laughter.

Apart from incredible individuals such as Caroline, what makes the ICC

successful?

Three quarters of the time spent on the

International Coastal Cleanup is dedicated to pre

event logistics. Logistics that consist of obtaining

bags, gloves and other support material to ensure

that the material reaches the 400 coordinators

nationwide.

The South African Coastline is 2 500km long and this report looks at clean-ups that took place

during September with the lion’s share of these activities occurring within the week prior and on

the 15th of the month.

2018 International Coastal Cleanup: South Africa.

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This paragraph is from the 2017 ICC report and it is just as

applicable this year.

“The maturity of coastal clean-ups, as measured in weekly

and monthly actions, is having a domino effect on clean-

ups away from waterways. Never before has there been

such a focus on the presence of waste material in the South

African environment by a swelling number of organisations

and individuals. It is wonderful to have so many more voices speaking out about the presence of

material littered and dumped, improper waste management and a lack of recycling facilities”.

Sadly, it is often the symptoms that are treated and not the cause!

Lack of infrastructure and irresponsible disposal of waste are unquestionably the primary reasons

for waste finding its way into the environment in South Africa.

4 300 Km covered to distribute material and arrange logistics over a four-week period.

50 000 Refuse bags distributed during the period of September.

10 800 Sets of gloves provided.

80 Buckets and 85 Garden Rakes provided by Addis.

Total of R 26 000 spent on chartering various vessels by PETCO.

R 30 000 worth of Pick n Pay Gift Cards distibuted.

R 30 000 Sponsorship of transport, branded clothing, etc. from Kelpak sponsorship provided.

2018 International Coastal Cleanup: South Africa.

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2018 Volunteer Numbers

Northern Cape 1 078

Audited Clean-ups

Non Audited Clean-ups

790

288

Western Cape 9 381

Audited Clean-ups

Non Audited Clean-ups

2 476

6 905

Eastern Cape 6 351

Audited Clean-ups

Non Audited Clean-ups

1 867

4 484

Kwazulu Natal More than 2 753

Audited Clean-Ups

Non Audited Clean-Ups

2 753

Not available due to death of Caroline

Total for South Africa – 19 563 volunteers.

RESULTS Some interesting observations from the 2018 data.

• 241 425 Items were collected nationally in audited clean-ups.

• Asthma pumps were the most prolific medical items found in the three Cape provinces. In

Kwazulu Natal, it was disposable syringes, especially in urban clean-ups.

• Looking at items collected per person, the Eastern Cape collected the most waste:

N Cape – 650 g per person, W Cape – 1,4 kg pp, E Cape – 2 kg pp and KZN – 1,2 Kg pp

• The improper disposal of single use diapers has increased. Disposable baby diapers dumped

outside informal settlements are on the increase. For example, in one roadside clean-up outside

the Mthata Airport, 48 diapers were collected. In the small town of Elim, 86 adult nappies were

collected in an area renowned for illegal dumping.

• Nationally we collected ± 2, 5 km of rope/string and 2, 8 km of monofilament line (fishing line).

Site data is available at

http://www.coastalcleanupdata.org/

2018 International Coastal Cleanup: South Africa.

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People, Kilograms and Kilometres

Land Clean-ups

Number of people 11 677 Non-audited clean-ups and 7 886 audited clean-ups. Total:

19 563. Weight of debris cleaned >9,532 Tons* Distance cleaned >204,7 Km* Number of bags filled >3 124* Underwater Clean-ups

Number of people 43* Weight of debris cleaned 186 Kg* Distance cleaned 500 Meter* Number of bags filled 47*

*Does not include non-audited clean-up data.

Top ten items collected in 2018 nationally.

Sponsors Without the commitment of our partners listed below, these initiatives would not have been

possible. In a time of harsh economic conditions, when companies find themselves having to

rethink supporting projects such as these, it is encouraging to see the continued commitment from

them.

Sponsored and Supported by: Plastics|SA, Dow, Sasol, Coca-Cola, Kelpak, Pick n Pay, Toyota Algoa Bay UNITRANS, PETCO (PET Recycling Company), POLYCO (Polyolefin Recycling Company), SAVA (SA Vinyls Association) and PSPC (Polystyrene Association of SA), Packaging, Tuffy Manufacturing, Woolworths, , National Recycling Forum, Glass Recycling Company, Paper Recycling Association of SA, Metpac-SA, Tetrapak, ROSE Foundation, Department of Environmental Affairs, Ocean Conservancy and African Marine Waste Network .

50257

33794

31643

17327

13744

10738

9071

9023

7873

6043

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000

Plastic Pieces

Foam Pieces

Cigarette filters

Bottle Caps (Plastics)

Food wrappers (candy, chips, etc)

Beverage Bottles (Plastic)

Straws/plastic sticks

Glass pieces

Beverage bottles (glass)

Other plastic/foam packaging

2018 International Coastal Cleanup: South Africa.

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