While teams continue mopping up across flood-ravaged Kruger National Park, there have been developments in waste management protocols.
On 29 January, Bizcommunity and other news outlets reported that SANParks had entered an agreement with producer responsibility organisation Petco.
A new pilot project between Petco and @SANParks looks set to boost recycling efforts at the Kruger National Park https://t.co/NJerB1QcfC via @Biz_ESG
A necessary evil
The Kruger National Park is almost entirely dependent on tourism revenue to cover its huge management bill. In fact, the park contributes roughly 75% of the SANParks revenue required for operational costs.
High volumes of waste
Annually, roughly 1.8 million tourists visit the park, many of them day visitors. Of these, about 70% make use of the picnic sites across the park.
These numbers generate a huge volume of waste. According to Petco,
“Over the recent festive season, over 43,000 food and beverage items were sold at the Tshokwane (picnic) site alone.”
This resulted in the recovery of half a ton of recyclable packaging.
Multiply that by the other shops in Kruger, and we get potentially huge volumes of recyclable waste. Unfortunately, not all visitors to Kruger are conscientious about waste disposal.
This inconvenient truth makes picnic sites “hotspots for improving waste management practices”, said SANParks’ general manager for sustainable development and management, Dr Danny Govender.
According to the report, Govender says workers currently separate waste manually at ten sites. However, this leads to “soiled recyclables, inefficient recovery, and lost opportunities for compostable materials.”
She goes on to explain that it is best to address the issue at the source: picnic sites.
“Strong separation-at-source partnerships with organisations like Petco are key in ensuring that these valuable resources are circulated back into the economy.” – Danny Govender, SANParks
Partnering with Petco
To assist in finding a workable solution to the dilemma, SANPars turned to Petco, a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO).
Their mission is to enable a circular economy by managing producer responsibility, supporting recycling, and diverting waste from landfills.
Consequently, Petco CEO Telly Chauke said the organisation recognises Kruger’s value to South Africa and wanted to support its sustainable waste management practices.
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He said, “If we can get the public helping us to separate waste at source – keeping compostables and non-recyclables out of the recycling stream, then those recyclables will be uncontaminated.”
These uncontaminated materials have value because people can turn them into something useful. He said the ultimate aim was to help SANParks move toward a circular economy.
Partnerships in practice
To begin with, Petco has supplied three specially-designed wheelie bins colour-coded for ease of use.
Park officials have already rolled out the bins at the Tshokwane Picnic Site, between Skukuza and Satara.
Designers built the bins to withstand both the elements and the scavenging behaviour of animals like honey badgers and baboons.
Consequently, Petco partnered with Pioneer Plastics who manufactured the bins to meet the environmental demands.
According to Gary Wiid of Pioneer Plastics, the bins are “fabricated from LLDPE plastic, which would provide UV and impact resistance, dimensional stability in heat, and long-term durability for outdoor use.”
In the near future, SANParks will expand the bin project to Nkuhlu and Afsaal Picnic sites, in partnership with their respective concession holders, Tourvest and Tindlovu
