Ensuring clean hands in Cape Town’s most vulnerable communities

In an effort to reduce the risk of cross-infection in the Mother City’s most vulnerable communities, Dow Southern Africa partnered with Plastics|SA and the Justice Coalition last week to distribute 20-litrePacXpert plastics pouches – lightweight, refillable bags, containing soapy water – to Covid-19 action community groups operating in Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Woodstock and Wynberg. The City of Cape Town’s Solid Waste Department also received 80 of these bags for use on their trucks by waste collectors.

The Managing Director of Dow Southern Africa, Cicelia van Rooi, explained that theCovid-19 pandemic has presented new health challenges every day.

“Recognising the health dangers that are posed when many hands touch and use the same tap to access running water, we wanted to offer a practical solution that would help flatten the curve and prevent people from leaving the safe confines of their homes during the period of national lockdown.”

Plastics|SA’s new pouch creates jobs and reduce pollution

The PacXpert pouch is an award-winning, flexible and sustainable alternative to using conventional containers. It is lightweight, durable, refillable and easy to use thanks to its distinctive cube shape that makes it very stable. The pouch stands equally well upright, on its side or cab be hanged. It can also be reused many times over and is fully recyclable.

According to John Kieser, Plastics|SA’s Sustainability Manager, they have been distributing these bags under the banner of Dow’s Project Butterfly – a social initiative that was launched in 2017 with the primary focus of creating jobs and reducing plastic pollution in South Africa through education, clean-ups and innovation-focused initiatives.

“We were able to distribute these bags quickly and effectively to various smaller community groups operating around the city and have dedicated teams in place to replenish the bags with soap and water twice a day.”