| The Glass Recycling Company - An Interview with Shabeer Jhetam |
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| Ceri Balston | |
| Thursday, 06 December 2007 | |
  Questions Can you give me a little background on why and how The Glass Recycling Company was formed? Why should people in South African be concerned about recycling the glass they use? Why should they do it? How can people get involved in recycling their glass? Do people have to wash the glass, remove labels, caps etc before they deposit it in a bottle bank? If a company/townhouse complex is interested in getting a bottle bank for their premises how do they go about getting one? How often will the bottle bank be collected? If our readers would like more information on your company and getting involved in glass recycling who should they contact? Ceri: Can you give me a little background on why and how The Glass Recycling Company was formed? Shabeer: The main reasons the company was setup was to protect the environment, to create jobs, especially for historically disadvantaged South Africans, and to prevent any detrimental government legislation on glass as being a form of packaging. It was setup in 2005, and is a joint initiative between the glass manufacturers, Consol Glass and Nampak Weigand Glass, and then 90% of the fillers including South African Breweries, Distel and Tiger Brands, we have 18 shareholders in total. Why did they setup this company? Because you don't want any negative legislation coming into force in the industry, as government has done with the plastic bag, that cost the consumer and lots of job losses, so the industry realised that it was important to take care of their product when it becomes waste, as we in the industry classify it as 'extended consumer responsibility'. So when glass becomes waste the manufacturer and the filler have a commitment to decrease the amount that goes to landfill. That's why a memorandum of understanding was signed in October 2005 with national government (the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) and the industry. The company really started operating in July last year (2006), our first levies, which is placed on every ton of glass purchased by the glass fillers, is paid to us which we started to receive in September last year, and we've been operational since then. Ceri: So it's across the country? Shabeer: We actually go across the border, we cover Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland as well. we've created a lot of jobs but on average you get 60 people selling to one entrepreneur, so that's 6,600 additional informal jobs that have been created. But one point I must make, The Glass Recycling Company does not buy the glass, we create the infrastructure, as in setting up entrepreneurs [small businesses who buy and sell waste glass]. We have setup in our first year, actually from September last year until June 2007, 110 entrepreneurs, 84% of these entrepreneurs are historically disadvantaged South Africans. Now it doesn't look like we've created a lot of jobs but on average you get 60 people selling to one entrepreneur, so that's 6,600 additional informal jobs that have been created. Ceri: Why should people in South African be concerned about recycling the glass they use? Why should they do it? Shabeer: That's crucial, unfortunately the mindsets in South Africa, we have paradigms as well, which we have to change… There's basically two types of people who will collect glass, it's us the high LSMs, we don't need to earn an income out of it but we need to drop off the glass at a glass bank, and the low LSMs who can get involved in glass recycling to earn an income. Now with the high LSMs what we need is the consumer, the householder, to take their glass to a glass bank. The majority of them are situated at shopping centres, we all go to shopping centres so it makes it very simple for people to drop it off, and you can find the location of our glass banks, of which we have over 500 on our website (the first 1000 glass banks in South Africa were not ours so we don't have them on our website) and we will relentlessly carry on buying glass banks, but its pointless putting out glass banks if people are not going to deposit their glass there. It costs in excess of R100 million to build a new landfill Now why should they do it? At the end of the day with Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth', everyone's getting worried about global warming, but people say "its not going to happen to me", isn't that a natural response from most people. But at the end of the day we all have to pay our rates and what's included there, refuse removal costs. Now the quicker you fill a landfill the quicker you need to build a new and it costs in excess of R100 million to build a new landfill, so what happens then, what's the municipality going to do if you live in Johannesburg? What's the City of Johannesburg going to do? They're going to increase your waste removal costs… So once it hurts people in their pockets people realise "ah, I have to do something". You also have to target people's heartstrings, it’s the correct thing to do, it's the moral thing to do because you don't want it to go into landfill and the other thing is, the more landfills you have to build, we're all going to have one in our backyard, do you want a landfill close by to you? It's not the most pleasant site. So it's important for people to realise the cost implications as well as the implication of having a landfill very close to you, those are two of the primary reasons. Another very important reason is, as companies have corporate social responsibilities programmes I think we as individuals need to also have own conscience and our responsibility to protecting the environment. We have to leave a legacy for our kids as well, the more that goes into landfill the more that is wasted, you're not going to leave much to them. And in terms of eco tourism, we want tourists to come to South Africa all the time. We don't want to have landfills scattered all over, we've got a beautiful country haven't we, we don't want landfills on every street corner, and you don't want glass bottles lying around everywhere, so you want people to put it into a glass bank. I mean everyone talks about 2010 coming and there I have an article about greening 2010, (Shabeer shows me an article on his desk) in fact we're working together with City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg and the other cities where the different games will be hosted as well, to see how as the glass recycling industry we can assist them as well. Lots of alcohol is going to be consumed, be it wine be it beer, there's going to be a lot of bottles, it's pointless doing it in 2010, we have to plan with municipalities from now. It's not that difficult to take your bottles to a glass bank, we're always driving somewhere and can drop them off when we pass one. That's one target market, the higher LSMs, and basically it’s a call to action to the higher LSMs to do something, and as I've said it's not that difficult to take your bottles to a glass bank, we're always driving somewhere and can drop them off when we pass one. Then the other market is the unemployed individual where I mentioned we have created 6,600 informal jobs. Now these guys don't have jobs, unfortunately they have to eek out a living, and by recovering glass they earn a living out of it, they sell it to these entrepreneurs that we have set up and that creates jobs. And what that does it helps to decrease crime, the more jobs we have, even if it's an informal job, the more crime will decrease… Because why do people resort to crime? They don't love doing it, it's because they've got families to feed, we're creating this opportunity for people who don't have jobs as a source of income for them as well. The more you can use recycled glass in making new glass the better because you need to burn your furnaces at lower temperatures. Ceri: So do the people who are taking the glass to the entrepreneurs get paid for the amount they collect? Shabeer: Yes, they get paid per kilogram. It's weighed and they get paid and then the entrepreneur then sells it on to the glass manufacturer be it Consol Glass or Nampak Weigand Glass, and they process it manufacturing new glass again. Now the more you can use recycled glass in making new glass the better because you need to burn your furnaces at lower temperatures, and so there's less emissions as well, which contributes to global warming. The other benefit as well is glass is made out of purely natural materials, your main ingredient is sand, which is silica, and then soda and limestone, and you have limited resources of that, so if we can use more recycled glass we're going to save those. It won't affect us but let's look four or five generations down the line, if we start eroding these natural resources you're not going to have glass and lots of us enjoy glass as the packaging of choice. Ceri: And it's easier to make new glass out of old glass… Shabeer: Out of recycled glass, definitely, it’s much easier. Ceri: And if a glass bottle isn't recycled for example and it just goes to landfill… Shabeer: It's gone forever, it's not biodegradable, it's an inert product so it doesn't cause any damage to the environment but it can be put to much better use, it’s a lost resource. We don't consider used glass as a waste product, we see it as a resource because it's used to manufacture new glass. In fact you can manufacture all your glass from recycled glass, in some parts of the world they are running as high as 90% of cullet [the term used by the industry to refer to recycled glass as a resource] so they're hardly using raw materials. One of the glass manufacturers in South Africa is currently using between 40-50% cullet to manufacture new glass, so almost half is recycled glass or reused glass. We as an industry can create the infrastructure, we can put the capacity out there, but the onus is not only on industry but on all South Africans to get involved, that is crucial. Ceri: But it could be a lot more than that? Shabeer: Well ideally you want to go to 90% or 100%. But the whole chain is that people need to get involved, the high LSMs, the low LSMs as well, and it has to be total commitment from all South Africans. We as an industry can create the infrastructure, we can put the capacity out there, but the onus is not only on industry but on all South Africans to get involved, that is crucial. Ceri: How can people get involved in recycling their glass? You've set up all these new glass banks, is it just a case of they go to your website to find out where their nearest one is and drop them off?  Miss Earth with Shabeer Jhetam, GM of The Glass Recycling Company One of our core objectives is to increase the number of glass banks in the market place to make it convenient for people, we don't want people driving kilometres on end to find a glass bank, so that situation will change over a period. Every year we're putting out about 500 banks into the country but remember that our country is vast, it will take a few years definitely, you know Rome wasn't built in a day. Every year we're putting out about 500 glass banks into the country Ceri: Do people have to wash the glass, remove labels, caps etc before they deposit it in a bottle bank? No, nothing whatsoever, because the glass manufacturers have invested in the region of R40 million in colour processing plants. Now these are very sophisticated plants, you can put your green glass, your amber (which is your brown glass) and your flint (your clear glass) into the same bank, and it goes to the plant and the plant separates it into the three different colours, it takes away any contaminants such as stone or porcelain which can't be recycled, it also takes off the label and the wire caps, it takes off everything, so it make it so much easier now for the collectors and the high LSMs not to sort it into different colours as well. It's all three colours into one bank, it's easy, the industry has made it so much easier. Ceri: I know in the UK, when I was growing up, there you always had the three different banks and you had to spend time separating them, it was quite a process, and you'd end up getting wine over yourself. The two glass making plants in South Africa are the most modern plants in the world. Shabeer: In fact the two glass making plants in South Africa, one is in Clayville and one in Belleville, are two of the most modern plants in the world, they are actually imported from Europe, they are two of the most modern plants in the world, it does everything for you. So you don't need to get wine on your shirt any longer. So the manufacturers and the fillers have made great strides when they decided to establish The Glass Recycling Company. Ceri: And I think it's good for South Africans for us to know that we're ahead of the game. Shabeer: We're well ahead of the game. I mean you grew up in the UK and I know that you still have to put it into three separate banks, so down in Africa we're not bad at all, its just a matter of people joining us in this initiative and working together with us. Ceri: If a company/townhouse complex is interested in getting a bottle bank for their premises how do they go about getting one?  Spreading the word with branded taxis Ceri: And it can be a business, a townhouse complex, a cluster home? Shabeer: Exactly, but my people will go out and assess the feasibility as well to see if there is sufficient glass that can be generated in that area. Ceri: And if I go to my local shopping centre and they're not doing it can I tell their management to get in touch with you? Shabeer: I'd love it if you could do that, the more South Africans who can do it the better, you're assisting us. At the end of the day you as the shopper or the patron of the shopping centre have more influence than I would have because you're bringing business to their tenants and if they have this value added service, as in providing a glass bank, what a pleasure. So it’s a win win for everyone, for you, for us and for the shopping centre management or owner. We need commitment from restaurants as well. Now, a lot of glass is consumed on premises, especially the higher LSM groups, people go out to these nice restaurants, have a bottle of wine, have quite a bit of beer and a lot of that doesn't get recovered for recycling. Because normally they have a waste management company that takes away all their waste and that waste most of the time goes into a landfill, so we need that commitment from restaurants as well. Ceri: So could it be a case of us the consumer asking a restaurant "Do you recycle your waste?" Shabeer: Exactly, you buy with your feet, as the saying goes. So you go this restaurant, let's call it Joe Bloggs Steakhouse and you're committed to recycling and you ask "What happens to your glass bottles?", and they say "we put it into the bin", and you respond "but why aren’t you recycling them, I'm going to go to XYZ Steakhouse in the future because they are committed". So the consumer needs to put pressure on as well, we can put pressure, but you're the ones with the power. At the end of day a restaurant depends on their patrons and if there's no patronage at the restaurant because they're not doing recycling what happens? People go somewhere else. Ceri: Say I've now got a glass bank at my office complex or townhouse complex and it's full. How often will the bottle bank be collected? Shabeer: As I mentioned we don't purchase the glass or collect it. There are service providers, who are on our website as well, who service the banks. Now say you as centre manager of XYZ Shopping Centre you will have an agreement with the service provider and you tell him "Joe Soap, please empty my bank it's full", and normally their numbers are stuck on the bank as well, besides our details. But what we are implementing is a call centre as well to improve the servicing of glass banks and its going to start in the next week or so. But if you're not happy with service provider X you can go to service provider Y, but you can always contact us and we can put pressure on them as well. Ceri: If our readers would like more information on your company and getting involved in glass recycling who should they contact? Shabeer: They can contact our switchboard 011 803 0767, or they can send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit our website (it's a long one) www.theglassrecyclingcompany.co.za |
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