COVID-19 wasn’t all bad. For one thing, it has increased interest in our environment and individuals are starting to pressure corporations to improve their non-financial reporting. Corporations want to comply to keep their shareholders and customers happy but some still struggle to implement ESG. ESG (environment, social and governance) is a refinement of CSR (corporate
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What is the single most important moment in a shopping centres life? There are memorable moments when the centre is fully let, when it trades successfully, its first anniversary and awards. But for those with retail in their blood, it is the night before the opening. The heady mix of anticipation, uncertainty if the crowds
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The industrywide march to sustainable practices is having an impact on waste reporting. Clients are becoming more demanding in the scope and depth of their reports and we are having to adapt, something we are happy to do. Reporting on the volume of waste being sent to landfill has long been a feature of professional
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We are – without doubt – seeing new recycling trends. Notwithstanding a sluggish economy we are being inundated with clients looking to change their waste management service provider. Waste management, like many other services, has become inefficient over time and clients have become accustomed to accepting mediocre service. Previously clients were prepared to wait until
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Which industry costs US$ 500 billion in value per annum and produces more greenhouse gas in its production than all international flights and maritime trade combined? The answer is the textile industry. We shouldn’t be surprised – but most people are. The clothes we wear do not seem to be such bad polluters and besides
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Billed as the biggest one-day civic action in human history the organizers expect millions of people in 180 countries to participate each year. 19 September was 2020’s World Clean Up Day. It certainly draws attention to our environment and clears mountains of refuse. But is it enough? To be effective in cleaning up the world
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At the end of June the Minister of Environment Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), Ms Barbara Creecy published, for comment, draft regulations for extended producer responsibility. After a long delay and some government mis-steps are we on the right track, at last? The principle of extended producer responsibility forms part of our main waste act. It
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We are living the dream – it is a bad dream but we are living it. So much is talked about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and so little is done about it in South Africa. We are ranked 113 out of 162 countries. Smart Waste is just quietly getting on with it, through recycling. Our
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The tsunami which is COVID-19 arrived with little warning, is overwhelming us with its speed and is devastating everything in its path. It is also bigger than we can comprehend. Most importantly it is creating fear and uncertainty. Fear about whether we will live, whether we will have a job, whether we will have enough
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Smart Waste’s plan for the continuation of our services during the corona outbreak is set out below. General Waste We are classified as an essential service because the failure to remove general waste would quickly result in an outbreak of disease. We will therefore continue to remove general waste in accordance with the contract. Our
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