Page 18 - Landscape-Issue131

FEATURE

Waterfront sweeper boat carrying out waste
collection duties in the marina

V&A WATERFRONT COMMITS

TO ELIMINATE PLASTICS

The V&A Waterfront, a signatory to the SA Plastics Pact (SAPP) as of 2023, has revised
its tenant lease agreement with the purpose of eliminating single-use plastics at
the precinct by 2025.

hrough the SAPP, the Waterfront own management of waste, separating Approximately 12% of all the recycled
has identified 12 single-use plastic at source, and to track and report their waste was plastic.
Tproducts to be eliminated by tenants recycling volumes. Each tenant is required Sustainability and utilities senior
by 2025. These include plastic barrier bags, to develop a waste management plan that manager, Mareli Cloete, said: “Joining
plastic shopping bags, plastic straws, details precisely how recycling will be the SA Plastics Pact is one more step the
plastic cutlery, plastic stirrers, plastic implemented, including waste recycling Waterfront is taking in striving to be free
pallet wrap, ear buds with plastic stems targets, and to illustrate the process for of single-use plastics and to be a leader in
and lollipops with plastic sticks, amongst measuring and reporting on these rates. circular design and innovative plastic waste
others. “It is important for the Waterfront to management practices.”
The Waterfront included the SAPP attract high quality tenants who are willing Some Waterfront tenants have already
in the lease and tenant house rules to to incorporate sustainability best practices adopted their own initiatives with the
align with its strategic sustainability and into their operations; this as we invest in same sustainability goals. This includes
development objectives. Existing tenants and implement measures to reduce the hotels providing drinking water in glass
due for renewal, as well as new tenants, environmental impact of our portfolio of instead of plastic bottles, and retailers
are bound by the green lease agreement. over 500,000 m2 rentable commercial and moving to the use of bio-degradable or re-
V&A Waterfront CEO David Green said: retail space in order to meet our 2035 net- usable bag options. “As the country’s oldest
“We are bringing our green lease up zero goal,” said Green. working harbour, the V&A Waterfront has
to date to mirror our commitments to a responsibility to protect the ocean as a
sustainability and to encourage continuing Examples of addressing plastics natural resource,” said Cloete.
actions on water and waste management, waste
energy efficiency, and associated cost Using ecobrick construction in
savings with our tenants.” Waste recovery and recycling commercial office space construction
With over 800 tenants, the Waterfront A dedicated team of more than 90 people An innovative example of developing
has a long history of developing and collect and sort all the waste on the solutions towards plastic elimination from
driving operationally efficient sustainable property at the V&A’s Waste Recovery and the ocean was the Waterfront’s use of eco-
buildings, promoting sustainable Recycling Centre. There are 386 collection bricks in the construction of The Ridge, now
consumption and incentivising tenants points on site and over 550 bins are cleared home to the regional offices of Deloitte.
to practise proper waste disposal and twice a day. Approximately 12,500 two-litre plastic
recycling methods. In 2022, the Waterfront collected over bottles were stuffed with unrecyclable
The existing green lease agreement 6 400 tons of waste and recycled and waste such as chip packets, candy wrappers
already requires all tenants to participate diverted over 2 700 tons of waste from and plastic shopping bags. The eco-bricks
in driving down water and energy landfill, of which 81 tons came from the were then used as void fillers in certain
consumption, to be responsible for their water ways and the maritime industry. foundation areas to reduce the amount of

16 Landscape SA • Issue 131 2023