Plastic waste pilot shows focus on people pays off

When Albert Einstein famously said that ‘We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them’, he probably was not thinking about plastic pollution.
Yet the problem of plastic waste and its environmental impact is a case in point. Over the years, it has become clear that conventional efforts to achieve changes in behaviour and instil better waste management practices, amongst others in global developing markets, although certainly not just there, have somehow missed their intended goal.
Now, a pioneering new collaboration in South Africa has decided to do things differently. By both successfully building public awareness through the imaginative use of art, song, comedy skits, as well as practical measures, the project saw some seven tonnes of plastic waste diverted from the environment.

The project, which was given the name Masibambisane  - meaning strength in unity in the local Ndebele dialect - sought to address several challenge statements as issued by the UKRI and WRAP International Circular Plastics Flagship Competition: the poor economic viability of collection and recycling leading to littering, particularly for low-value plastics, and weak demand from end markets. It also sought to address the lack of equipment, operational resources and space, contamination of waste and unfair pricing and trade practices.
To that end, a feasibility study was conducted in the Thembisile Hani local municipality of the Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. The study was run by researchers from the University of Portsmouth’s Revolution Plastics team and the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs in partnership with the UK-based charity WasteAid.

The goal was both to educate people about the dangers of dumping and burning waste and to take steps to increase waste recycling, such as supporting informal waste collectors and introducing community drop-off points for recyclables.

The 10-month campaign showed promising results in just a short period of time. Nearly 21 percent of community members surveyed now use the community bins for better waste separation and segregation. Most importantly two-thirds of respondents noted a positive change in their environment, with nearly half attributing the transformation to the presence of community bins.
It was found that the arts-based methods - in particular the creation of murals - were significant drivers in the success of the project.
The University of Portsmouth played a crucial role in designing a creative sensitisation campaign to support the pilot scheme, in collaboration with local stakeholders including artists, musicians, and waste collectors.

The campaign comprised a range of sensitisation methods such as murals, music and street theatre skits, making the messages easily accessible and comprehensible, while at the same time encouraging open discussions.

Sensitisation is a vital process for educating communities, ‘raising awareness and inspiring behaviour change’, according to Cressida Bowyer, deputy director of Revolution Plastics at the University of Portsmouth.
The two murals created during the study sensitised 86 per cent of those who saw them on how to separate waste; and changed the attitudes and behaviours of 80 per cent of those who saw them.
By the end of the project the amount of waste managed by burning or dumping had fallen by 27.7% per cent.

In line with the a ‘whole systems’ approach adopted for the study, WasteAid worked closely with the local community, on implementing strategies to enhance plastic waste collection and boost the revenue for local collector groups. The project focused on both supply-side factors, such as educating households on better waste separation and providing collection bins, and demand side factors, including training collectors on the types of plastics with value and promoting good business management. Additionally, the project facilitated connections with off-takers committed to purchasing plastic waste regularly from collectors.

 “The educational and creative elements for this project made it almost impossible for people in the community to ignore our initiative. It sparked interest and helped facilitate important discussions on the steps people could take to improve waste collection and increase recycling,” said Ceris Turner-Bailes, CEO of WasteAid.

The end-line survey showed a positive shift towards better waste management and a better local environment, with some two-thirds of respondents (65.0%) noting a positive change in their environment in the last six months. Nevertheless, littering or dumping remains a highly prevalent issue in the community, indicating there is further work to be done to address the issue more comprehensively.