JULIASDALE, in the resort town of Nyanga, has long been a haven for tourists seeking a breath of fresh air in the Eastern Highlands.
However, the scenic retreat area has been facing a threat to its pristine environs, with bottles, cans and plastic cartons left behind by visitors.
This threat prompted the Juliasdale Community Recycling Group to collect and manage the waste from local lodges and hotels.
“In 2018 I saw the was loads of stuff outside particularly these things (bottles). When you finish with them no one seems what to do with them and throw them around.
“I saw there was a problem and we started in 2018 with a passive recycling programme,” said Lisa Langhaug, one of the group’s leaders.
What began as a handful of collections from the nearby fuel station has turned into a full-blown operation.
Hotels, guesthouses and lodges in the surrounding area have become the collection centres, being the biggest disposers of the waste from their premises.
For years, Langhaug would take the waste on a gruelling journey to Harare for recycling, in the process encountering several losses.
“We ran that for four years that way. The bins were labelled and people would put their things in the bins. When the bins were full, we would take them to Harare.
“We were not making money out of that, and it was just fine because it was a volunteering programme,” she said.
Manicaland Province’s economy rests on tourism, but the scenic attractions and the aura the town carries disappear when it is strewn with litter.
Beyond being a potential harm to the ecosystem, microplastics and chemicals from plastic waste find their way into food, water and air.
“Plastic breaks down into tiny particles known as microplastics and nanoplastics, which contaminate soil, water and food chains.
“Research now shows that microplastics are present in human blood, brains, lungs, livers and even placentas, raising concerns about their impact on human health and future generations,” said Langhaug further.
In a bid to lessen the burden, the Juliasdale Community Recycling Group received a shot in the arm from hospitality institutions in Nyanga.
Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) assisted the community-based group with a crusher that cuts the costs incurred in processing the garbage.
The machine is the first of its kind in the recycling of waste in Nyanga.
RTG spokesperson Pride Khumbula said that as a hospitality industry that generates and disposes of a lot of waste, the onus was on them to assist the community-driven initiative of erasing plastic and glass litter from the tourist destination.
“As hotels we do have an impact on the environment from waste to water consumption and energy usage. We use a lot of energy. We use a lot of water and generate a lot of waste. This dovetails perfectly with our strategic direction where we are fusing sustainability in our operations,” said Khumbula.
The crusher has massively reduced the burden on Langhaug; however, the limitation is that crushed bottles and aluminium cans are not yet being recycled in the country, and several companies rely on machines in South Africa.
Langhaug travels to Harare and sells the crushed glass for $12 per tonne of glass, compared to $3 for uncrushed bottles.
“A glass crusher is going to help hugely because it is going to crush the glass. We will still be losing money, but we will be losing less money. The cans that we collect from hotels support all the other work we do,” Langhaug said.
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