After three years of planning, KwaZulu-Natal’s eThekwini City Health is ready to move on the implementation of the ‘Safe and Happy Drums’ project.

The drums have not been used before, and are safe for food and water storage.

In the eThekwini municipality, as in other parts of the country, street vendors trade in packaging drums, which are stolen or bought from drum collectors, reprocessors, reconditioners and chemicals industries. These drums are a serious health risk and are being sold to the public by vendors.

“A common problem in Africa is the dumping of unsafe drums, and the sale to the poor of chemically contaminated containers, which cause poisonings and environmental pollution,” says non-profit orga- nisation Responsible Container Management Association of Southern Africa (RCMASA) president Liz Anderson.

During April, the municipality started to replace old and used drums. This month it will create awareness of the dangers used chemical drums pose to the environment and people storing food and drink – and it will start tracing and warning culprits. June will see a start to the enforcement of the new regulations on used chemical drums.

“We do hope that this will elicit a better response from industry sponsorship in terms of corporate social and extended producer responsibility (EPR),” she adds.

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