Cape Town – The City of Cape Town on Wednesday installed new public litter bins around the Site C Plaza shopping centre.
The City had said total of 28 green litter bins were to be installed along Solomon Tshuku Street (12 bins), iDada Street (12 bins) and Maphongwana Street (four bins) for the use of pedestrians who wish to dispose of chip packets, cool drink containers, and similar kinds of litter.
The litter bins will be provided in areas with a lot of foot traffic, such as around shopping areas and along main routes to public transport facilities.
City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management, Alderman Grant Twigg said the bins were not intended for the disposal of household refuse or business refuse.
Alderman Twigg added that businesses had to have waste management plans in place as per the City’s Integrated Waste Management By-law.
Households should rather make use of municipal refuse services provided.
“Improper use of green litter bins in other areas has led to complaints about these bins, and eventually bins being removed as they were constantly overflowing with household and business waste from surrounding areas,” he said.
He said that these bins had been branded with anti-littering messaging and would be emptied on a daily basis by cleansing teams in the area.
“I want to encourage each and every person to participate in litter clean-up and let's demonstrate what can be done when we take pride in our neighbourhoods.
“If you can't dispose of your rubbish right away, bag it and keep it with you until you can find a nearby bin. To maintain the cleanliness of our communities, we must all play a part,” Twigg said.
He also highlighted that littering didn’t only make an area look depressed, but could also increase incidents of flooding.
“Litter is commonly washed or thrown into storm drains where it creates blockages that cause floods during the next big downpour,” Twigg added.
Twigg said that they were hoping that the new bins would hopefully help prevent or reduce flooding next winter if residents used them correctly.
IOL