Kwazulu-Natal is home to the longest recycled plastic boardwalk in South Africa.

The boardwalk in Isipingo, south of Durban, is made from a whopping 17 million plastic bottles - which would have covered about four rugby fields 2m deep. Some 650m long, it was a joint project between the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the environmental group Isipingo Island Institute. The walkway runs through the river estuary and mangrove swamp forest, which is filled with bird and animal life and protected trees. It is made of pliable "plastic wood", mostly used to build outdoor furniture and stairs because, unlike wood, it is resistant to water, white ants and rot.

The project cost about R2.5-million. Karen Maiden, an agent for the Johannesburg company that manufactured the boardwalk‘‘s "planks" said the use of recycled plastic saved at least 50 20-year-old-trees. "Also, that amount of plastic is not going into a landfill site." She said the product worked perfectly in the swampy area as it did not require chemicals to keep it from decaying.

"It was an extremely environmentally sensitive area so you couldn‘‘t have used cement or preservatives, but because it‘‘s plastic, water has no effect on it and the timber-wood had no effect at all on the environment," she said.

Spokesman for the Isipingo Island Institute Anusuyah Singh said the project was a long-time dream of the institute. "It is something that the entire community can enjoy and, being an environmental body, we wanted to use recycled products which were also environmentally friendly"