Recycling litter in Jukskei River could help avert pollution crisis – environmental researcher

JOHANNESBURG - An environmental researcher said recycling litter in the Jukskei River, north of Johannesburg, could offer the manufacturing industry solutions for biodegradable material to use to avert a pollution crisis.

Samiskha Singh said the recycled waste collected by the community group, Alex Water Warriors, can be studied to see how pollution can be prevented.

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The Alex Water Warriors teamed up with an organisation, the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership, and entities on Wednesday to do more work to reduce pollution from plastics, bottles, and cupboards thrown into the water.

Singh said these materials would help further research.

"If we are finding a lot of polystyrene in the river system, they come from food packaging and they very easily break down into smaller pieces. So, what can we do to manage this? Should we do something like swapping out polystyrene packing for more biodegradable stuff?"