A night-time project to clean up the Cape Town CBD and ensure it retains its investment allure speaks to Winston Churchill’s philosophy to “never let a good crisis go to waste”.
Litter is a beast. It makes the Cape Town city centre undesirable, and lowers the tone, especially in the evenings when residents and visitors go about their business or want to have some colourful or glamorous down-time.
Enter a new night-time cleaning pilot project, aimed at keeping the city centre clean and free of health hazards, that is proving to be highly effective and saw over 1 000 bags of unsightly litter collected in August alone.
The pilot started on 6 August 2021 and is a collaboration between two of the CCID’s operational departments, namely CCID Safety & Security and CCID Urban Management, with assistance from the City’s Solid Waste Management Department.
MAKING A MESS
So, where does the rubbish come from, given that every single day, teams from Urban Management and City of Cape Town teams work tirelessly to keep the CBD pristine?
Turns out, when no one’s looking (especially at night), people dump their waste illegally or discard it by plonking it on top of green litter bins instead of using black wheelie bins which can be obtained from the City. Then there is the legal litter, the CCID and City’s blue and yellow litter bags which are placed at waste collection points by cleaning teams so they can be picked up by the City’s Solid Waste Department during the night shift.
Add to that the litter that spills out of the bags when people rip them open to search for recyclable materials, and Cape Town’s erratic weather, usually characterised by strong winds, and you’ve got the perfect storm.
CCID Safety & Security manager Muneeb Hendricks says attempting to stop spillages almost always leads to confrontation from the person opening the bag and onlookers “as we appear to be preventing” someone from getting what they need from the bags. Additionally, illegal dumpers are sneaky and hard to catch. To effectively solve the problem, a preventative solution was found.
CREATIVE CLEANING SOLUTION
Here’s how it works. Every night from 18h30, CCID Safety & Security members drive around the CBD with two CCID Urban Management sweepers, contracted via Straatwerk, cleaning spillages in the CBD, and collecting litter bags. At 23h00, the team hands over the waste to the City’s Solid Waste Management Department truck to take to landfill.
“Safety & Security provides a team of four members, a light-duty vehicle and a trailer to collect the bags. We manage the process by compiling a strategy with the assistance of our partners and keep records of all the bags collected. Over 1 000 bags were collected in August and the city centre was left spotless after every night shift,” says Hendricks.
During this period 135 black bags, as well as 464 blue and 811 yellow bags, were collected. On average, between 70 and 90 bags are handed to the City’s truck each night.
“The partnership has proved to be very successful as Urban Management provides two sweepers to assist in not just removing the bags but sweeping the area as well,” says Hendricks.
CCID Urban Management manager Kally Benito concurs saying this has been a “remarkable” and “tremendous” joint effort which is a welcome relief in their operations. “Collecting these bags keeps our CBD clean and fresh and helps prevent unpleasant odours and unfavourable sticky substances on paving and streets which would otherwise lead to rodent infestations and other unfavourable vermin.”
The pilot will be reviewed on a month-to-month basis as all parties remain committed to finding creative solutions to ensure the CBD thrives on all fronts.
IMAGES: CCID