🔋 Batteries & CFL Bulbs:
Woolworths & Pick n Pay (Dean St / Cavendish Square). Dropboxes located near entrances.
🍾 Wine Corks:
Vineyard Hotel (Reception/Porters). Re-manufactured into green insulation for low-income housing.
🛍️ Soft Plastics (Bread/Shopping bags):
Selected Woolworths branches (Cavendish / Dean St). Look for dedicated collection bins.
🖥️ Large & Small E-Waste:
Incredible Connection (Cavendish) or Makro (Ottery) for dead cables, monitors, and laptops.
Interactive Plastic Code Guide
Not all plastics are equal! Many local services (such as Oasis) do not accept any plastics, while municipal drop-offs accept selective codes. Select a code below to learn what it means and where to recycle it in Cape Town.
♳ PET / PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Highly recyclable and widely collected. Typically lightweight, clear plastic used for single-use bottles.
Accepted at Wynberg Drop-off, Recycle 1st, and Clearer Conscience. Remember to rinse bottles and secure bottle caps.
Composting & Organic Food Waste
In South Africa, organic waste in landfills generates methane gas—a powerful greenhouse gas. Composting at home is highly practical for leafy Southern Suburbs gardens, or you can use specialized pickup services.
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Traditional Backyard Composting
Ideal if you have open soil, lawn clip, and leafy organic debris. Best for non-meat food scraps and garden trimmings.
An airtight indoor system that uses EM (Effective Microorganisms) bran to ferment all food scraps, including meats and dairy.
✔️ YES: All food wastes, including raw/cooked meat, dairy, bones, small leftovers.
❌ NO: Liquids, large bones, already moldy/decaying food.
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Subsidized / Paid Pickup
If you don't have the space or time to manage composting yourself, local paid services make organic disposal completely stress-free.
📌 Clearer Conscience is the most prominent local player who collects and processes organic kitchen food scraps (including dairy and small bones) directly from your doorstep.
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Pro Tip for Southern Suburb Soils
Many Newlands gardens sit below Table Mountain and experience damp, sandy soil or heavy shade under tall trees. Adding organic home compost helps adjust the soil consistency, improves water retention in dry Cape Town summers, and supplies natural trace elements to plants without synthetic chemical fertilizers.
City of Cape Town Municipal "Think Twice" Curbside Program
In designated parts of the Southern Suburbs (including Newlands), the City of Cape Town has rolled out the "Think Twice" household recycling initiative. Let's make sure you know how it works.
How to Participate
Eligible households are provided with transparent or yellow plastic bags by the municipal contractor on a rolling basis.
Dry Mixed Recyclables: You put clean paper, cardboard, plastics (excluding non-recyclables), glass bottles, and tins in these designated clear or yellow bags.
Collection Day: Put these bags on top of or next to your green wheelie wheelbarrow bin on your scheduled weekly collection morning.
Contractor Pickup: A dedicated, separate recycling truck collects them (not the standard black-bin compactor).
⚠️ Quick Regulations & Compliance
Cape Town landfill sites are under critical volume pressure. Proper curbside hygiene ensures your bag actually gets processed.
Keep it clean: Recyclables should be dry and relatively free of food residue. A quick rinse saves an item from landfill!
Never mix: Wet waste, garden dirt, medical refuse, or nappies should *never* go into clear bags. This invalidates the whole bag and sends it straight to landfill.
Not sure if your street is covered?
Verify schedules or request replacement recycling bags directly through municipal channels.
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