One of the major needs in getting waste management systems right is the better inclusion and recognition of informal waste reclaimers. The thousands of individuals across the country who are waste reclaimers provide a major free service to municipalities and residents, by collecting and sorting their recyclable waste and diverting it away from landfills. These exploitative conditions should rather be drastically improved, and waste reclaimers supported and rewarded properly.
An example of a large informal community which grew up next to the Weltevreden landfill site in Brakpan, known as Plastic City, illustrates the scale of the service, the opportunities which exist, but also some of the pitfalls and dangers faced by waste reclaimers in their line of work. From around 2003, waste reclaimers working on the Weltevreden landfill site started to live informally next to the dump, in a settlement which came to be known as Plastic City. Originally occupied by South Africans, this settlement eventually also hosted a range of migrants, especially from Mozambique. Today, following a Department of Human Settlements audit, there are over a thousand shacks which are home to an estimated 3 500 or more people. The shacks are made of wooden boards, zinc and plastic rescued from the landfill site, and the City of Ekhuruleni has provided porterloo toilets to the settlement, which remains without electricity. The City did provide solar panels to residents, however. Set amongst a stand of mature gum trees, the settlement is set to be removed at some point, with South African residents provided with state housing.
The waste reclaimers living in Plastic City are allowed to work in the landfill site when it is open, and the City of Ekurhuleni acknowledges their crucial role in diverting many tonnes per month away from the landfill. The reclaimers sort the waste every day and it is weighed and transported in bulk by middlemen, who buy the waste in the settlement. It appears that the Mozambican immigrants have filled the role of middlemen/local waste buyers. One Mozambican national who owns a bakkie parked in a garage in Plastic City, says he uses it to transport recycling material to formal buy-back centres.
When the landfill site is open, there is a vibrant local informal economy, with many of the residents also operating spaza shops, salons, shebeens and other informal businesses to service the residents.
Authorities have closed the landfill in the past because of fires, which were blamed on residents of Plastic City and an informal dumpsite near the settlement. By November 2022, the site was closed for maintenance. The latest closure had put a halt to most of the economic activity in the settlement, and many residents had to take to the streets to look for recyclable materials until the site is reopened.
