Pretoria - A challenge has been put to Ekurhuleni residents and government to play an active role in preserving the environment.
"We are all aware of the fact that it is our social responsibility to be good to our environment and now we must lean towards reducing and controlling the amount of waste we create," said Member of Mayoral Committee for Environmental Development, Clr Louis Sibeko.
Sibeko, who was speaking at the WasteCon 2010 on Wednesday, said the conference was expected to inspire a spirit of activism in residents and government to take full responsibility for the waste they produce.
This is aimed at minimising environmental damage and reducing the world's carbon footprint.
WasteCon is in its 20th year running and is hosted by the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA).
This year's conference is, however, significant as environmental issues begin to be placed high on governments' agendas worldwide.
On Tuesday, the symposium focused on recycling, policy and technical issues. Yesterday, waste minimisation, environmental and rehabilitation topics dominated presentations.
There were also workshops on recycling, converting waste to energy and waste management regulations.
Geo-synthetics - products used to solve civil engineering problems - and planning and research on landfills will be discussed today.
The conference will end off with a technical tour on Friday to the Ekurhuleni Metro's Weltevreden landfill in Brakpan and the Holfontein hazardous waste disposal facility in Springs.
WasteCon 2010 has an exhibition open to the public.
Schools from the area have also been invited to learn about how they can save the planet through reducing their waste footprint in workshops tailor made for them.
