This week (11 to 17 September 2017) is officially “Cleanup & Recycle SA Week”. All across our beautiful country, our beaches, mountains, waterways and neighbourhoods are tainted by litter - this week puts the focus on keeping it all litter-free and promoting the recycling of waste.

Smaller cleanups will culminate in the 21st International Coastal Cleanup Day – taking place on the morning of Saturday 16 September. Please join us, and Cape Town, in our annual event taking place at Milnerton Beach - it's going to be loads of fun and there are cool prizes up for grabs.

“We can turn the tide on waste if we all work together!” – Douw Steyn, Sustainability Director of Plastics | SA

Why is this significant?

The South African plastics and packaging industry spearhead the annual Cleanup & Recycle SA Week annually - almost 120 000 volunteers take part in a huge series of cleanups along roads, near schools and in various communities, making sure as much as possible of the waste collected is recycled.

“The aim of this week is to increase an awareness of the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling. During this time, we encourage communities, schools and businesses to clean up the areas where they work, live and play by collecting the litter and ensuring that it gets recycled.” – Douw Steyn, Sustainability Director of Plastics | SA

Creating awareness about recycling, products made from recyclable materials and ways you can reuse waste is part of the goal of South African Recycling Day, taking place on 15 September. We've written about some of the ways this is done before, from the different types of plastic and businesses that turn waste to wealth to how to make EcoBricks and create beautiful art from waste.

Read the full Plastics | SA press release here.

You can get involved!

75% of the plastic littering our oceans comes from land – an unprecedented ecological disaster that is only becoming worse.

“At its core, ocean trash is a people problem – perpetuated by the often unwitting practices that industry and people have adopted over time.” – Douw Steyn, Sustainability Director of Plastics | SA

Get involved in a International Coastal Cleanup Day event near you, a little bit makes a big difference if we work togather: