Each year, the local plastics industry encourages citizens to make a difference where they live, work, learn or play by participating in clean-Ups around the country, throughout the year, but especially during Clean-up and Recycle SA Week – an annual public awareness week during which plastics and other litter are removed from our country’s neighbourhoods, rivers, streams, beaches and oceans.
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During September South Africans geared up for the annual Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week, which took place from 16-21 September 2024. This year marked the 28th consecutive year that Plastics SA coordinated South Africa’s participation in the International Coastal Clean-Up, the world’s largest volunteer effort dedicated to ocean health.
This year’s campaign once again saw unprecedented support and participation. Thanks to generous contributions from our sponsors, we were able to print and distribute a record-breaking 800,000 bags to clean-up coordinators nationwide. We are immensely thankful for the excellent contributions and support we received from the plastics industry, various brand owners, PROs, logistics companies, and NGOs. Their commitment has been vital to the success of Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week for many years, and we deeply appreciate their continued partnership.
The response to Plastics SA’s call to get involved in cleaning up the environment was overwhelming, with over 50 audited cleanups taking place across the country. These were organised by schools, NGOs, municipalities, businesses, industry role-players, and community volunteers who were all eager to make a difference where they work, live or play. Beach clean-ups were coordinated along the entire South African coastline, ensuring widespread participation.
Download the full list of Coordinators2024 and feel free to share our informative comic strip to your networks too! 
Thousands of kilogrammes of waste were removed from our natural spaces during Clean-Up and Recycle Week 2022).
Hundreds of clean-up events took place around South Africa in an effort to keep our environment clean with large numbers of volunteers signing up for clean-ups at beaches, rivers and streams and in communities around the country.
Rivers and streams are an important part of South Africa’s water network. Unfortunately, they are often badly polluted by chemicals, sewage, plastics and other visible litter caused by drains and water channels leading from roads as well as communities living in close proximity to the river banks and where there is no waste management system in place.
River Clean-Up Day was launched in response to the many inquiries received from members of the public, municipalities and corporates who wished to get involved in the International Coastal Clean-Up and World Clean-up Day but couldn’t because they were based inland and far away from the ocean. Now everybody can make a difference and help to keep our oceans healthy, regardless of where they live.
Get involved in River Clean-Up Day by removing litter from rivers, streams, canals and any inland water sources in your immediate area.
By recycling the plastics that are removed, you not only protect the health of the rivers, you also keep plastics out
of the ocean, support the efforts of waste pickers and help to grow the recycling industry. Every action, no matter how small, reduces the volume of plastic waste that reaches the ocean and ends up making a big difference to our environment and oceans.
South Africa has ten major rivers that cross the length and breadth of South Africa, namely the mighty Orange River in the Northern Cape/Free State), Limpopo River (Limpopo), Vaal River (Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Cape), Tugela River (KwaZulu-Natal), Olifants River (Limpopo / Mpumalanga), Gamtoos River (Eastern Cape), Great Kei River (Western Cape), Komati River (Mpumalanga), Great Fish River (Eastern Cape) and Molopo River (North-West).
