FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN UTILITY SERVICES: SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: COLLECTIONS BRANCH

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SPECIFICATION CURRENT STATUS FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE

INTRODUCTION When Cape Town Municipality was established about 175 years ago, residents got rid of their waste by throwing it in the street. We since progressed to using: FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE Metal bin Rubber bin Plastic bag Plastic bin

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT The current wheelie bin is made of 100% Virgin High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is made from various processes but essentially derived from Crude Oil which is commonly known as Petroleum. Petroleum is an essential fossil fuel. At a seminar on Sustainable Solid Waste Management held at the University of Cape Town, attended by, inter alia, the Manager Collections and Head Collections: Tierberg, various papers were presented by CoCT, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and UCT including a lifecycle assessment plastics recycling in Cape Town. 4 FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE 2015

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED This resulted in discussions between the Director Solid Waste Management, the Manager Collections and the Head Collections: Tierberg. Subsequently extensive research was carried out, specifically, on the composition of the current bin being 100% Virgin HDPE. 5 FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE 2015

The net result has been, for the first time in a municipality in South Africa, the introduction of a wheelie bin manufactured from a minimum of 50% recycled HDPE. More impressively, broken/condemned previously used City of Cape Town wheelie bins are use as feedstock for our new bin.

SPECIFICATION The challenge in writing the specification was to ensure that the quality of the bin would not be compromised, taking into account the environment within which our bins are deployed. Therefore, all the extensive and rigorous testing required in previous SABS (SANS) standards have been included as a requirement for the Fifty 50 bin. All previous specifications for 100% Virgin HDPE wheelie bins required a 5 year guarantee period whereas the Fifty 50 wheelie bin requires a 10 year guarantee period. This has been achieved without any noticeable impact on the price of the bin. We have also included a new bin numbering system so as to enable easy determination of recycled content including a cross- reference to the bin RFID number. FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE

SPECIFICATION CONTINUED In keeping with the City’s Green Procurement Policy, not only is the Fifty 50 bin using 50% less fossil fuels, the fundamental component to this Specification is the use of our damaged/ condemned bins in the manufacture of the Fifty 50 bin. In addition, the specification requires that an auditable trail of the “recycled HDPE” be available which will create a “closed loop” from collection to “reclaiming” i.e. conversion into clean resin, with lot traceability where applicable, to the manufacture of refuse containers for the CITY or other products. 8 FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE 2015

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CURRENT STATUS To date, Kilograms of damaged/ condemned wheelie bins have been collected in terms of the current Tender. This translates into Fifty 50 bins. The current value to the City of this initiative is R In terms of an “Environmental Assessment of the Plastics Recycling in Cape Town (2013)” by Chitaka T, Moloto M, & von Blottnitz H at the Department of Chemical Engineering at UCT, the Global Warming Potential (GWP) Comparison Between Virgin and Recycled Resins for Cape Town a GWP savings of 63% is achieved using recycled HDPE versus the use of Virgin HDPE.* * Presumes our recyclers are similar to those in the USA. 10 FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE 2015

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS Enquiries have been made with Prof. Harro von Blottnitz at the Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT) regarding this particular initiative which we consider an excellent opportunity for accurate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) due to the “closed loop” nature of the Fifty 50 bin. Two potential LCA projects have been identified; A further project regarding the mechanical stability and durability of the bins has been identified within the Department of Mechanical Engineering (UCT). These initiatives will be pursued. Collections will follow a process to determine the best deployment and future application of the Fifty 50 bins. 11 FIFTY 50 WHEELIE BIN 30 JUNE 2015

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