Advancing Planetary Health Through Community-Led Recycling in eThekwini
Situated within the dynamic urban and coastal environment of Durban, under the jurisdiction of eThekwini, the Forward Durban –

One Health Environmental Stewardship Project represents a coordinated, multi-sectoral initiative aimed at transforming how communities engage with environmental health.

This project moves beyond awareness into structured action, using recycling—particularly plastic waste recovery—as a gateway intervention to address broader challenges in planetary health, urban sustainability, and public health resilience.

Project Rationale and Framework

At its core, this initiative is grounded in the One Health model, which recognises the intrinsic interdependence between human, animal, and environmental systems. The degradation of one inevitably impacts the others.

Within the eThekwini context, escalating plastic pollution, marine ecosystem stress, and urban waste mismanagement present not only environmental risks but also direct and indirect health burdens—including impacts on food systems, water quality, and disease patterns.

The Forward Durban platform provides the civic and developmental architecture to mobilise stakeholders—government, communities, faith-based organisations, private sector, and NGOs—towards a shared vision of a clean, healthy, and sustainable city.

Strategic Objectives

This project is designed to deliver on several interlinked objectives:

Environmental Protection:
Reduce plastic pollution along the Durban coastline and urban areas through community-based recycling systems.

Public Health Advancement:
Position waste management as a preventative health intervention, recognising its role in reducing environmental disease burdens.

Behavioural Change and Education:
Drive sustained shifts in community behaviour through awareness campaigns, demonstrations, and participatory engagement.

Community Empowerment:
Enable local communities to take ownership of their environments, fostering responsibility, dignity, and civic pride.

Policy and Advocacy Alignment:
Support municipal and national priorities around sustainability, climate resilience, and waste reduction.

Partnership Development:
Strengthen collaboration across sectors in line with One Health principles of integrated, multidisciplinary action.

Project Components

The Environmental Stewardship Project is structured across several operational components:

1. Recycling Activation and Demonstration
   Community-led recycling drives focusing on plastic bottles and waste materials, with visible engagement in high-impact areas such as the Durban beachfront.
   
2. Public Awareness and Media Engagement
   The development of video content and digital campaigns serves as a communication tool to amplify the message, inspire replication, and scale behavioural change across communities.
   
3. Community Mobilisation Platforms
   Working through Forward Durban networks, including churches, civic organisations, and local leaders, to embed environmental responsibility within everyday community life.
   
4. Education and Capacity Building
   Training and awareness initiatives that link environmental care with health outcomes, reinforcing the One Health philosophy at grassroots level.
   
5. Sustainability and Scale
   Establishing systems and partnerships that allow for long-term continuity, expansion into other regions, and integration into broader health and development programmes.

Significance and Impact

This initiative represents a paradigm shift—from fragmented environmental actions to a systems-based, health-oriented approach to urban sustainability.

By positioning recycling within a One Health framework, the project:

• Elevates environmental action to a public health priority
• Bridges the gap between policy and community-level implementation
• Creates a replicable model for other municipalities in South Africa and across Africa
• Aligns with global imperatives around climate change, sustainability, and health equity

The Forward Durban – One Health Environmental Stewardship Project is a call to reimagine our role as citizens—not merely as inhabitants of a city, but as custodians of a living ecosystem.

It affirms that:

“A healthy city is not built by policy alone, but by people—through daily, intentional actions that protect and sustain the environment for current and future generations.”

Lesley Naidoo
Health & Wellness Sector Forward Durban