Fun runners clean Joburg, one plastic bottle at a time

A group of just over 180 proud residents took to the streets of Joburg on Sunday, 17 September 2017 as part of a ‘Joburg City Clean-Up’ in the prelude to the 2nd annual FNB Joburg 10K City Run.

“We were overwhelmed by the support that the ‘Joburg City Clean-Up’ received today,” says Blake Dyason, ‘Joburg City Clean-Up’ pioneer. “Our cities have so much history and opportunity. We’re proud to team up with the FNB Joburg 10K City Run on what was our first Joburg clean-up. Through sports, arts and culture we are able to entice residents to the inner city both to enjoy its rich heritage and drive business. In order to do this, we need to keep our cities clean and safe.”

“The ‘Clean Up’ started and finished at Newtown Park, which is 500m away from the Mary Fitzgerald Square, the finish venue of the FNB Joburg 10K CITYRUN,” continues Dyason. “Volunteers were given gloves and bags before being let loose to walk the streets, have fun and explore their city. Our partner Waste Plan, an on-site waste management company, collected the litter. Our other partners, PETCO (South Africa’s national industry body accountable for managing the PET plastic industry’s Extended Producer Responsibility) and Extrupet (the largest and most advanced recycler of PET bottle materials on the African continent) not only provided the bags and gloves, but committed to sponsoring a number of school desks, made from recycled plastic, to the CITYKIDZ Pre and Primary School.”

 

According to Janine Basson, PETCO Stakeholder and Relations Manager, PETCO’s mission is to grow the collection and recycling of PET plastic, after consumer use. “PETCO is thrilled to support the ‘Joburg City Clean-Up’. We believe clean-ups have an important role to play in shifting South Africa away from a ‘take-make-dispose’ system to a circular economy by ensuring that valuable resources, such as PET plastic bottles, are diverted from landfill and collected for recycling. In the case of the ‘Joburg City Clean-Up’, PETCO sponsored bags and gloves. Together with Extrupet we will also donate school desks made out of recycled plastic to a local school. Each desk, made from discarded bottle labels and caps, is approximately 65kg and seats two students.”

Says Chandru Wadhwani, Managing Director of Extrupet and PETCO Board Director, “We believe that these types of initiatives allow us to move off the side-lines and into the thick of consumer and civic responsibility. Plastic touches us all, whether directly or indirectly, and it is imperative that we come together to be part of true sustainability when the opportunity (such as this clean-up) presents itself.”

The ‘Joburg City Clean-Up’ saw the clearing of 150 bags of waste from the streets of Johannesburg. The bags were collected by Waste Plan for sorting and processing, after which 10 school desks will be manufactured by PETCO.

 

Event information: FNB Joburg 10K City Run

Iconic landmarks to look out for en route will include: the Nelson Mandela Bridge, FNB Bank City, Constitution Hill, Mary Fitzgerald Square, Wits University, Neighbourgoods Market and Ellis Park Stadium to mention just a few.

• Date: Sunday, 24 September 2017 (Heritage Day)
• Time: 08:00
• Start Venue: FNB Bank City Johannesburg
• Finish Venue: Mary Fitzgerald Square Newtown

Each entrant will receive a magnificent Event Performance T-shirt.

Charity Support:

When entering online, runners can choose to support either or all three of the following charities: the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, the Johannesburg SPCA and/or the Reach For A Dream Foundation.