What a Durban beachfront looks like after heavy rain or flooding. (Durban Green Corridor)

The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa walked away with the Greenest City in the World award, yet it continues to battle waves of plastic every time heavy rains hit.

Durban came out on top, beating the likes of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Austin in the US according to the HUGSI-index, which compares the level of greenness in 98 cities from 51 countries, divided into 7 regions.

HUGSI (Husqvarna Urban Green Space) Index uses computer vision and deep learning techniques on satellite images.

Durban’s defining qualities were having the highest percentage of green space in urban areas and the highest percentage of urban area covered by trees.

Aside from Durban, the metropolitan municipality created in 2000 includes surrounding towns. It is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province.

But, while the city can give itself a huge pat on the back for its efforts of becoming a world leader in green spaces, it still is plagued with waves of plastic that come flooding down its rivers and into the ocean every time there are heavy rains.

The most recent stream which saw tons of waster flush into the ocean was captured by Joshua Redman and Cameron Service, who run The Litterboom Project.

The footage that went viral shows thousands of bottles crashing in the waves where the Umgeni River Mouth meets the ocean.

Msawakhe Mayisela, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, said it happens excessively during high winds and rain.

“Yes, the City experiences this whenever there is a high volume of water, which comes down the river. It is not only the Umgeni River, but in all areas where the rivers lead directly into the sea,” said Mayisela.

The waste could take weeks to clean up and with the onset of the Holidays, thousands could well be swimming in trash as the river mouth is located a mere 5.7 kilometers from one of Durban’s most popular beaches, North Beach.

The city says it has employed additional staff to assist in central clean-ups to mop up the problem.

“We are also operating on an extended-hours basis to deal with the excess and additional workload caused through the storm damages…. however, ongoing rain and winds do not assist in this matter. The city already has its Festive Season Management Committee Plan in place and additional seasonal staff is procured to help with the beachfront operations with effect from the 1 December 2019 until mid-January 2020,” a statement read.

However, this is only a temporary solution. The problem is the waste comes from sources higher up, and while the implementation of innovations like Litterboom’s waste catching pipes have managed to clean up some 1,000 tons of trash since May, there is a lot of work to be done mitigating the excess in future, at its source.

“The booms retain the plastic, which is then collected in bags by council staff and designated groups appointed to do so under the province as part of an employment opportunity,” said Mayisela. (Business Insider)