SA Affordable Housing May - June 2019 // Issue: 76 | Page 17

EVENTS
Lightweight ‘concrete’
solution launched
The polystyrene association presents municipalities with a viable
solution that tackles employment, housing and waste.
By the Polystyrene Association of South Africa
The municipal polystyrene recycling hubs in South Africa.
T
he Polystyrene Association of South Africa has
unveiled exciting plans to increase the collection and
recycling rate of post-consumer polystyrene at its
Annual General Meeting held in Midrand recently.
“We have had phenomenal success with our various
recycling projects over the past 11 years. During the
2017 / 2018 financial year, more than 6 300 tons of
polystyrene was successfully diverted from our country’s
landfills. When considering how light polystyrene weighs
(it consists of 94% air) and that our recycling figures in
2013 stood at 1 849 tons, this is truly an achievement that
we are incredibly proud of,” says Polystyrene Association
CEO Adri Spangenberg.
Although various end markets have been developed for
recycled polystyrene used in the production of picture
frames, cornices and stationery, the biggest success has
undoubtedly been achieved using recycled polystyrene in
lightweight concrete solutions.
Polystyrene used in concrete applications can be of any
colour or grade, clean or slightly contaminated as it gets
chopped up and mixed with a special mixture of cement and
other ingredients to form lightweight concrete that is
waterproof, fire resistant, offers insulation against heat and
cold and it is cheaper and easier to build with than
traditional bricks or concrete.
www.saaffordablehousing.co.za
BOTTLENECKS IN THE RECYCLING SUPPLY CHAIN
According to Spangenberg, one of the biggest stumbling
blocks identified in the recycling supply chain, is the
challenge of getting the polystyrene out of the waste
stream and to recyclers in time and consistently.
“There is a substantial (and growing) demand for the
recycled material in South Africa and an abundant supply of
polystyrene packaging material that can be recycled.
However, the industry has experienced bottlenecks in
various areas of this supply chain. A desperate need for
material has necessitated the industry to address the
logistical issues that hamper the recycling of polystyrene.
Much of our focus, energy and attention this past year has
been on developing a workable, financially viable solution
which we submitted to government as part of our Industry
Waste Management Plan,” Spangenberg explains.
POLYSTYRENE TRADING HUBS IN METRO CITIES
The first step towards addressing logistics challenges of
recycling polystyrene is set through the forming of Trading
Hub Clusters (THCs), which represent all relevant industries
in the value chain.
“This is a centralised operation which streamlines the
entire process by bringing polystyrene recycling under one
roof within a geographical area, therefore relieving the
MAY - JUNE 2019
15