Many young people in some parts of the African continent turn to waste management as an ad hoc or extra job to make small money when they are struggling with unemployment, a South Africa entrepreneur has identified a silver lining in a rather stormy sky.
Meet Tshepo Mazibuko, a young entrepreneur from Johannesburg whose waste recycling business is today an employer of 17 and engages a further 800 waste collectors: most of them women from poor communities. K1 Recycling partners with the community to create a zero-waste environment through integrated waste management. Mazibuko is the managing director.
Tshepo learned his business craft in the street. After four years of unemployment after school, he became a waste collector. He had to support himself and his family starting at a paltry 200 to 300 Rands (13 to 19 US$). This was not enough, but he instinctively knew that there was a lot of potential in what he was doing.
“I mean at first it was only rubbish that I saw in the streets, but with all the engagement of the likes of SWITCH Africa Green, it has actually made me realize what impact or difference I am making today,” Mazibuko says, large smile on his face. “What we saw as rubbish is today something that is turned into a resource, not only for creating jobs but also to save the environment.”
Mazibuko joined trolley pullers; a group of street waste collectors, quickly realizing that more opportunities abound.
Tshepo Mazibuko sorts waste with one of his employees (Photo: SWITCH Africa Green)
Mazibuko quickly saw the potential in waste and decided to start his business by building a small company to recycle plastic.
At the beginning, he proposed to his colleagues who were collecting waste that he could offer them transport. When they agreed to support him, he invested in a truck; his first step into real business.
Mazibuko then went and procured a small area that his family owned for producing bricks. He and his wife took a loan to buy the plot. There was nothing on it, but they bought a few machines and started recycling plastic waste, plunging them into business.
K1 Recycling was established in 2009 and was formally registered as a business in 2011 with a mission of driving a zero-waste environment through integrated waste management solutions. Currently, the focus is plastic recycling to produce high density polyethylene and polypropylene plastic pellets. Today, KI Recycling processes 120 tonnes of plastics per month and has more than 1000 suppliers who are mainly community members. The company received support from SWITCH Africa Green through the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) as well as the Government of South Africa.
"The transition to a green economy requires actions and significant technological, behavioural and systemic change in all levels of the society including citizens, public and private sectors,” says Patrick Mwesigye, UNEP Africa Office Regional Coordinator on Resource Efficiency. “We have seen more radical innovations come from the micro, small and medium enterprises. These enterprises play a key role in the transition to green economies and sustainable development. As UNEP, we support these enterprises in creating business models that are not only economically profitable but also boost environmental and social inclusiveness."
Waste is processed and turned into plastic pellets that the company exports to other neighbouring countries such as Mozambique and Botswana. The plastic pellets are used to produce water pipes and other products such as plastic chairs.
“Switch Africa Green helped me to learn how to improve my business and grow. It supported me with networking and connected me to other businesses,” explains Mazibuko. “Switch Africa Green widened my horizon and opened my eyes to the real potential in this sector.”
The segregation of waste is time-consuming and costly. After participating in various trainings that were supported by Switch Africa Green, Mazibuko decided to organize his business to make it more focused. He learned that he could outsource a number of services that his company couldn’t handle in an efficient way. For instance, he outsourced waste collection which ensures the waste collectors get more involved in the business, making them happy.
Waste collectors don’t only collect and sell waste, but also segregate it to make it easy for processing. By outsourcing these activities, KI Recycling managed to cut on costs and created other parallel businesses for other people from poor communities.
As the business grew, Mazibuko encouraged householders to segregate the waste they generate themselves. The company also created incentives, as he realized that people engage in waste segregation if they see the value in doing it.
KI Recycling partnered with supermarkets, to create a simple system to buy waste from consumers, an initiative dubbed Packa-Ching.
Tshepo explains the workings of his Packa-Ching mobile buy-back initiative (Photo: SWITCH Africa Green)
Packa-Ching is a mobile buy-back centre that travels into communities to purchase recyclable materials. Households are paid for materials onto a cell phone (e-wallet) which they can use to purchase airtime, withdraw cash, transfer money or pay at participating shops. Each type of waste is evaluated and bought at a different price.
“The more we take care of the environment, the more we love our environment, the better the lives we have and the better the lives we create for our future generations,” Mazibuko says exhaling deeply.
