"It's vital that we change our mindsets and embrace responsible green behaviour," urges Shabeer Jhetam, CEO of The Glass Recycling Company. "In September we embrace Glass Recycling Month and National Recycling Day and we encourage all South Africans to actively join our movement. It's vital for us all to save energy by recycling, reduce our nation's carbon footprint and educate our youth on the importance of sustainability."
Through a committed network of collectors and recyclers, more than 1 billion glass containers were recovered for recycling last year - this equates to approximately 2.8 million bottles recovered for recycling per day. The Glass Recycling Company is working hard to support a network of entrepreneurs and collectors to earn a source of income. In addition to this, the community-based programmes provide a great platform for educating communities about the environmental benefits associated with glass recycling, not forgetting that the development of a green community has other benefits such as the reduction of litter.
Glass recycling holds a different meaning for different people. From the collector who makes a living from recovering glass for recycling, to the entrepreneur that buys it; from the mother who imparts her sustainability values to her children and the school child who endeavours to save the world 'one glass bottle at a time'; to a community who works together to clean their neighbourhood and protect their environment through shared responsibilities; each has their own interpretation of what glass recycling is. Essentially glass recycling is about creating a legacy.
By collaborating with stakeholders, including schools and corporates, The Glass Recycling Company is helping to educate the youth as well as adults about the benefits of choosing to use, reuse and recycle glass. "We believe you can help every glass bottle have a future by recycling and add your glass to the more than 330,000 tons that was collected and recycled in the past year," Jhetam says.
Glass can easily be recycled by taking glass bottles and jars to a glass bank in your community. Recycling is very simple; you don't have to make a big effort in order to make an impact and change your lifestyle to a more sustainable one.
