Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 3 September  1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# South Africa’s first carbon capture, utilisation, and storage research site has officially been inaugurated. It was developed by the Council for Geoscience at a site in Leandra, Mpumalanga, because it is close to the emission sources from Sasol and several coal-fired plants. The project aims to reduce the country’s carbon footprint. Air pollution in areas surrounding the coal power stations of Mpumalanga is ranked as some of the worst in the world and is estimated to cause more than two-thousand-200 deaths annually.

Meanwhile, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment says lots of work had been done to put in place air quality frameworks and standards in all three spheres of government. The country has a robust framework to manage air quality and it also follows World Meteorological Organisation guidelines and approaches. Government is planning to expand air quality priority areas to include Johannesburg, Tshwane, the West Rand district and Bojanala in North West. The department’s Patience Gwaze says the air quality in these areas is compromised.

# And, South Africa’s aluminium recycling is reportedly lagging behind global trends with low recycling rates and insufficient infrastructure. Products made from recycled aluminium use about 80-percent less power than what is consumed during the production of new aluminium products. Aluminium Federation South Africa CEO, Muzi Manzi, highlights challenges including the sector’s high CO2 footprint and uncontrolled scrap exports. He advocates for stricter export controls and increased public education to boost recycling.

Stay tuned for more news………….