The Durban University of Technology (DUT) community in Midlands has joined the recycling movement, pledging their support to the “Go Green” campus initiatives. This comes after the successful launch of the Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) Project at the Indumiso campus Library in Pietermaritzburg.
Facilitating the launch which was spearheaded by the Real Estate Management unit at DUT and the RVM Project Team was Mr Deon Chetty from the Information and Communications Technology unit and Ms Hlamarisa Kubayi, Director of Facilities and Maintenance at DUT.
Chetty revealed that the RVM Project was one of DUT’s initiative that focuses on the university giving back to the community and the environment, in keeping with the ENVISION2030 strategy.
“This Reverse Vending Machine Project serves as an example of our efforts to work towards making the sustainability core to all university activities in line with our goals to ENVISION2030. In an effort to reduce its carbon emissions and to improve recycling DUT has introduced the Reverse Vending Machine, which is a specialised device designed to automate the process of collecting and recycling specific waste,” explained Chetty.
Delivering the opening remarks was Professor Livingstone Makhondo, Academic Development Practitioner at DUT Midlands. He expressed his appreciation for the RVM Project launch to be also held in Midlands as a similar launch was held in the Steve Biko campus in Durban.
“This launch marked the beginning of our efforts towards going green, of our efforts towards enhancing sustainability of our environment. At our level, we have heard a lot about climate change and how such initiatives as the RVM Project will contribute towards sustainability of our environment,” said Prof Mkhondo.
He urged the DUT Midlands community to take this initiative seriously and to change their lives. He believes DUT will never be the same again. Prof Mkhondo indicated that the RVM Project encourages the DUT community to look after its environment in order to benefit from it. He called upon the Midlands staff and students to use the machine appropriately. He applauded the DUT City Campus for being actively involved in the recycling initiative since the launch in Durban, indicating that the campus took the call seriously, filling up the machine quicker and they were already reaping the rewards.
Giving the overview of the RVM Project in line with the ENVISION2030 strategy was Mr Thabani Mhlongo, Senior Director of the Real Estate Management unit at DUT.
“Sustainability is one of the four perspectives of the university strategy, ENVISION2030. We thought of what our contribution as students, academics, support and as a university should be to the sustainability perspective. So, for us it was how do we bring to life the sustainability perspective and make sure that it was not just a theoretical exercise somewhere, but it became more practical and fun. We agreed that going forward in anything that we do there must be that aspect of sustainability. As we roll out the infrastructure, we want to introduce this concept. From the energy side we will be rolling out the green energy initiatives that we have started. The idea was to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel by introducing green energy. On the water side we will be launching our water reduction initiatives,” explained Mr Mhlongo.
Pictured: Mr Thabani Mhlongo and Professor Livingstone Makhondo unveiling the Reverse Vending Machine outside the Indumiso campus library.
He shared that the RVM Project was part of their contribution on reducing waste within the campus, making it beneficial to the university community. Mr Mhlongo revealed that the RVM Project came to life last year after and they had done their research and formulated the concept.
“It is part of the DUT campuses going green. We will be launching the Go Green Fridays. Each one of us, let’s get into the habit of recycling and reducing the waste within the university. As we launch this machine, our request is simple, that all of us must become ambassadors of the green campus initiatives. We want to make recycling not theoretical but practical,” added Mr Mhlongo.
Demonstrating to the guests how the machine works and getting the university community excited about recycling and being rewarded for it was Ms Sbahle Masinga, a Real Estate Management Intern at DUT. She gave insight on recyclable and non-recyclable items while taking the guests through the easy steps of recycling and how they can start earning digital cash through the Imagined Earth app.
Students were treated to a fun filled day with entertainment and prizes while being encouraged to be part of this transformative movement.
In closing, Ms Kubayi thanked all the esteemed guests, organisers and the DUT community for their commitment in making the event a success.
Photographer: Mnqobi Ngobese.
Simangele Zuma
