Plans are afoot for the Tshwane metro to create a waste sorting facility especially for so-called informal waste collectors in Centurion.

This is to discourage them from using a piece of land next to the Hennops river bank on Wierda Road.

Over the past year, waste collectors have been making their way to this piece of land using a pathway through the dense bushes, just off Wierda Road.

Here they would sort which plastic materials to sell as recycled items, and simply dump any unwanted materials right on the spot, adding to the growing pile of garbage daily.

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Centurion residents also saw this as an opportunity to dump their own garbage there as well.

“The new site must be still approved by the council,” said metro spokesman Lindela Mashigo.

“Thereafter, we will need a waste permit and the new site will be fenced.”

Mashigo said the site currently used by waste collectors is “inappropriate” as it is on a river bank, which is “an environmentally sensitive area”.

An alternative site has yet to be identified.

It will, however, be established in accordance with the metro’s waste management strategy.

The site must also be registered at the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development, said Mashigo

Last week, the Tshwane metro’s so-called “Green Scorpions” (or rather environmental compliance section) also began cleaning up the area and removing garbage in giant skips.

Ward councillor Marika Kruger-Muller said she received several complaints about waste collectors operating there.