WEBVTT - Schools upcycling project

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<v Speaker 1>All right. The learners from three schools in the Athlone

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<v Speaker 1>area have this year become recycling champions and eco ambassadors

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<v Speaker 1>as part of a project, a pilot project to ensure

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<v Speaker 1>that recyclable items are diverted from landfills. The project, involving

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<v Speaker 1>Normal Road, q Town and Alistair Primary schools, was run

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<v Speaker 1>by Zero Waste Solution Company which Regionize and in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with the Producer Responsibility Organization PETCO and from their marketing manager,

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<v Speaker 1>Kay Levy joins us. Oh sorry, Carra, Kara. Kara Levy

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<v Speaker 1>joins us this afternoon, Kara, good to have you with us.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much for having me. How did this.

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<v Speaker 1>Project get started, Kara? And why the decision particularly for

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<v Speaker 1>these to target these three schools.

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<v Speaker 2>So we have been a longtime partner with REGIONIS as PITTCO.

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<v Speaker 2>It's our responsibility to look after and make sure that

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<v Speaker 2>the packaging that our members place on the market is

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<v Speaker 2>collected and recycled. So we have for a long time

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<v Speaker 2>had their partnership with Regionized and we were talking and

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<v Speaker 2>they have a large interest from many of the schools

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<v Speaker 2>that they are collecting from and they approached us and

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<v Speaker 2>asked us if we could or would be willing to

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<v Speaker 2>support the project, and we said absolutely. When you know

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<v Speaker 2>there is interest from a school, or particularly from teachers

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<v Speaker 2>or principal at a school, we like to jump on

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<v Speaker 2>board because that means that there's somebody that will be

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<v Speaker 2>holding the project accountable and running with it. And so

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<v Speaker 2>we jumped right in and with our third partner, which

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<v Speaker 2>is green Pop, we worked out a whole little mechanism

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<v Speaker 2>and ecosystem for the.

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<v Speaker 1>Competition and it was right as you say, run as

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<v Speaker 1>a competition. Tell us how the learners did in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of weight, So they.

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<v Speaker 2>Did really well. It was kind of split into two parts.

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<v Speaker 2>First part was well it was Grade R to Grade

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<v Speaker 2>three and then it was Grade four to Grade seven

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<v Speaker 2>and over all they collected just under seven hundred kilograms

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<v Speaker 2>of recyclable packaging, so that means that all of that

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<v Speaker 2>packaging was diverted from landfall. We've got a big landfall

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<v Speaker 2>crisis in South Africa where a lot of our landfalls

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<v Speaker 2>are filling up really quickly. A lot of them are

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<v Speaker 2>so for that they have already actually closed down. So

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<v Speaker 2>that is one of the main aims of the work

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<v Speaker 2>that we do, making sure that that valuable packaging states

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<v Speaker 2>out of landfall, out of the environment and gets made

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<v Speaker 2>into new useful products.

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<v Speaker 1>So maybe you can talk a little bit to that

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<v Speaker 1>the message of sustainability. What how, how have you sort

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<v Speaker 1>of passed that message on to the learners and how

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<v Speaker 1>are they then passing it on to their communities.

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<v Speaker 2>So we've got various initiatives in place. We've got a

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<v Speaker 2>partnership with clipig and Pace School's Club where we've created

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<v Speaker 2>capsuligned content in the form of workbooks and posters, where

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<v Speaker 2>parents and teachers are able to actually go to our

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<v Speaker 2>website orto that we can pay School's Club website and

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<v Speaker 2>download content. But specifically for this competition, we had people

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<v Speaker 2>who work with Regionized go to the school and actually

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<v Speaker 2>introduce the competition and give that information to the kids.

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<v Speaker 2>And what the kids needed to then do is to

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<v Speaker 2>actually go home and make sure that they were separating

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<v Speaker 2>their packaging from organic waste or waste that would go

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<v Speaker 2>to landfall, and then they needed to bring that to

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<v Speaker 2>school and from their Regionized would collect it. So it

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<v Speaker 2>creates a whole nice ecosystem because there's the buzz that's

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<v Speaker 2>created at school, then that message goes home to the parents.

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<v Speaker 2>The kids are energized and excited about winning the competition.

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<v Speaker 2>That's school and the parents then have to listen to

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<v Speaker 2>their kids to make their kids happy, I guess, and

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<v Speaker 2>to start separating at home. So we hope that this

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<v Speaker 2>will have a longer term impact once the parents and

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<v Speaker 2>the kids now have kind of brought into why it

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<v Speaker 2>is so important to actually separate your refactable packaging from ways.

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<v Speaker 1>Why do you see the project or the venture going

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<v Speaker 1>in the future. Are their plans to expand it to.

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<v Speaker 2>Tom Absolutely so. We are currently still in talks with

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<v Speaker 2>where the project will go. We are hoping to expand

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<v Speaker 2>it further. We've got lots of learnings from this from

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<v Speaker 2>these three pilot schools. Unfortunately, some people in the area,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, because this packaging is worth something. If a

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<v Speaker 2>wastepicker is able to get this sort of packaging, they

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<v Speaker 2>can sell it at a buyback center for money. So

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<v Speaker 2>they actually founded some of the materials were stolen from

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<v Speaker 2>the school, and so that was a good learning for

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<v Speaker 2>us that we need to make sure that the packaging

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<v Speaker 2>is kept in a more secure location. But I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>over all, the kids were so excited and a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of the people who actually ran the project, some of

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<v Speaker 2>the people that were working for Rege ANDIZM who conducted

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<v Speaker 2>the project, was so inspired by how excited the kids

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<v Speaker 2>were and the results that they are really excited to

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<v Speaker 2>hopefully roll out more of these or roll up the

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<v Speaker 2>initiative to more schools. So yeah, we're in box, is

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<v Speaker 2>the main answer for you there. Yes, we are definitely

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<v Speaker 2>going to be doing more on the ground. Well.

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<v Speaker 1>In enormous congratulations to the learners that those schools, Normal Road,

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<v Speaker 1>qu Town and Alistair Primary in Athlone for their efforts

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<v Speaker 1>and certainly recycling champions, and also delighted to have you

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<v Speaker 1>Kara with us this afternoon talking to us about the

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<v Speaker 1>role of PETCO in this Lara sorry cart Levy is

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<v Speaker 1>from PETCO, which is South Africa's longest standing producer responsibility organization.