DINNER PARTY INTEL: Easy living in Vienna

1. Vienna is the life

A survey of the world’s most liveable cities does not include Cape Town, which often features on lists when the stay is short. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the most liveable city is Vienna, famous for culture, food and music. It is followed by Copenhagen, Zurich and Melbourne. The worst city in the world to live in is, unsurprisingly, Damascus, where war is raging and various groups are at one another’s throats. It is 173rd on the list. Harare is at No 167.

2. Rating our rubbish

South African company Petco, which specialises in sorting our rubbish, says it achieved a 64% collection and 60% recycling rate for plastic bottles in 2023, more than the legal requirement of 58%. It also met 98% of targets set by the department of forestry, fisheries & the environment. It says it invested about R70m in recycling and supporting collection projects, saving landfill spaces, reducing carbon emissions, creating jobs and supporting municipal recycling.

3. Quenching the national thirst

The popular Namibian fishing venue of Henties Bay will become the country’s second desalination plant by early 2027. Namibia, facing its worst drought in more than a century, will start building the plant in January 2025. It is projected to have a capacity of 20-million cubic metres and hopes to address the demand driven by uranium exploration and Namibia’s green hydrogen plans. It will also alleviate demand from the growing urban settlements, now 54.9% of a population of 3,022,401.