RUSSEL Garcia has vowed to keep Kokstad town and the surrounding townships clean by collecting old objects for recycling.
In July 2016, Garcia opened a recycling company, called Pikit, 10 km outside Kokstad and the company recently moved to the newly opened industrial park in Kokstad town.
Garcia employs two people, Bongiswa Mantambo and Sbusiso Ndlalane, who help to collect empty cans, bottles, boxes, paper and vehicles for recycling.
Inside the industrial park there were lots of manufacturing companies when the Fever visited Garcia’s business site. His staff were processing and packaging plastic bottles, cool-drink bottles and old machines to convert into other items.
“We process and package old goods to another level for manufacturing companies to make assets,” he said. The company uses bailing machines to process the old goods.
Garcia encouraged Kokstad residents and business people not to throw away recyclable material on the streets but instead to collect them and hand them over to him.
“I decided to move my company to town for people to be able to sell old goods. My aim is to turn Kokstad into a clean town.
“I want to partner with the local municipality for waste management,” he said, adding that waste is a problem in many towns.
His company has given skill opportunities to Mantambo and Ndlalane who work for him.
“I started working for the company in 2016 and I have learnt many things. I got a skill that can make me a recycling company owner in the future,” said Mantambo.