Each year, in line with the Healthy Environment pillar of our Sustainable Mining Plan, we celebrate initiatives across Anglo American that promote lasting, positive environmental outcomes for the areas and communities in which we operate. This year’s theme for World Environment Day is centred on the call to #BeatPlasticPollution, rallying communities and corporates worldwide to implement and advocate for innovative solutions to reduce plastic pollution.
In celebration of the day, Kumba Iron Ore colleagues at our Kolomela mine in South Africa will be launching an initiative with the aim to #BeatPlasticPollution, called the "Bottle Cap Campaign". The goal of the campaign is to simultaneously address the issue of plastic pollution while tackling a wider societal issue related to the lack of vital necessities, namely sanitary pads and wheelchairs. In partnership with the Give2Green initiative facilitated by Interwaste, for every 250kg of bottle tops collected, 60 sanitary pads are donated, and for every 500kg of bottle tops collected, a wheelchair is donated to those in need.
Economic barriers that exist in the communities surrounding Kolomela – and in other communities surrounding our operations – often prevent access to these critical items, which can result in adverse effects on education and income generating opportunities, which in turn has a wider negative impact on overall economic participation. To address these challenges, the campaign aims to collectively improve the lives of women, girls, youth, the elderly, and anyone in the communities surrounding Kolomela affected by these economic barriers, while focusing on the critical need to reduce plastic waste through recycling.
