2. Packa-Ching
Each year, South Africa generates about 240 million kilogrammes of plastic waste, around 45 kg per person. Only about 14% of this plastic is recovered and recycled, with the rest ending up in highly polluting incineration plants, or even worse, in landfills. The problem of plastic waste is more visible in South Africa’s townships, where refuse removal by municipalities can be unreliable, and recycling is not necessarily a practical or familiar option for residents. In contrast to most countries in the global north, waste is not sorted at household level in South Africa, but downstream of the waste management cycle. In addition, as in many other emerging countries, informal and small-scale waste pickers play a significant role in the waste management value chain: An estimated 60,000 to 90,000 people in South Africa earn a livelihood by picking and sorting waste informally, contributing to collecting and recycling efforts.
In this context, Packa-Ching was founded in 2017 by Polyco, a non-profit organisation established by South African polyolefin plastic-packaging converters to deal with plastic packaging. Packa-Ching’s approach is to encourage recycling and more efficient waste management by monetizing waste through an “enterprise-operated mobile separation at source” model. Through this model, Packa-Ching provides enterprise development and income generation opportunities in poor communities by purchasing the collected waste from waste collectors and paying them with vouchers. Having started in Langa in Cape Town in 2017, Packa-Ching has now expanded to many other South African locations.
Packa-Ching is seeking to address a number of challenges ahead. One of them is to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of its model, since much of its current operational funding is sponsored by Shoprite and Sasol (two large South African corporates, respectively in the retail and oil & gas sectors). Another is finding ways of integrating other waste streams such as paper, metal and glass into its model. Packa-Ching also needs to adapt to the realities of waste collectors, who are at the receiving end of volatile market fluctuations.
Packa-Ching ultimately has the ambition to be present in all of South Africa’s 9 provinces, and possibly expand into neighbouring countries as well by next year.
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