M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / The City of Johannesburg has no formal recycling strategy and waste is simply dumped as collected in designated landfill sites. Yet these landfill sites, reportedly, will be good for no more than another eight years. Throughout the city there is an informal network of waste collectors commonly known as trolley pushers who, together with the private buy-back and recycle centres, form the only real system of recycling in Johannesburg. There is no infrastructure for the trolley pushers, men and women who perform a vital function. There are no dedicated spaces and very little tolerance from the residents of Johannesburg. The trolley pushers sleep amongst their collection of waste, or travel far to start each day in the very early hours of the morning. They roll their improvised trolleys full of goods in the street among the traffic of commuters, hindering and being hindered. They store their messy waste, when they can in unsafe and public spaces, such as under bridges and on the side of some roads. Storage is such a problem for trolley pushers that often they’re forced to sell their goods as soon as they collect them, when the fluctuating prices may be too low. They are always essentially at the mercy of the privately-owned buyback centres. Their days are long and they have no ablution facilities, no designated space to catch their breath, eat, obtain drinking water, network or socialise. This project is about changing that by facilitating the informal recycling sector, providing the convenient infrastructure without formalising the process. The term ‘convenient’ in this context encompasses spaces close to the buy-back centre, with low tech, low maintenance, mixed-use facilities. These facilities include secure sorting and storage spaces, sleeping, ablution and social spaces. The essence of this project is to encourage, empower and improve work and income potential in the informal waste recycling sector through simple, appropriate architectural interventions that are essentially selfmaintaining.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:4324 |
| Date | 13 March 2014 |
| Creators | Trask, Samantha Leigh |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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