ELECTRONIC WASTE (E-WASTE) RECYCLER COMES OUT TOP WINNER.
22 October 2024
Chris Whyte the Co-Founder and Managing Director of African Circularity Network handing the cheque over to the winner of the Circular Innovation Challenge, Mark Williams-Wyn (CIO) and Mmakoma Komape (Cape Regional Manager) from eWaste Africa.
SOLVE@Waterfront is delighted to announce the winner of its Circular Innovation Challenge for 2024.
In a strong field of 54 entries, the winner, Maritzburg-based eWaste Africa, stood out specifically for its work on dealing with the gnarly problem of defunct PV panels. They can’t go to landfill because they’re classed as hazardous waste; and 90% of each panel is laminate glass that can’t be recycled. So as the ±25 million PV panels already installed in South Africa reach their end, what’s the solution? The difficulties associated with disposing of them mean they potentially become the very opposite of a green technology.
Winners of the Circular Innovation Challenge: Mark Williams-Wyn (CIO) and Mmakoma Komape (Cape Regional Manager) from eWaste Africa.
EWaste Africa has developed a process to address this growing problem, recovering the metals for recycling, and recycling the otherwise unusable glass into green interlocking pavers.
The winning team took home R200 000 and a basketful of the kind of resources that can transform a budding enterprise: a training programme of their choosing to address any specific needs the business may have; mentorship and access to business contacts; and excellent exposure to other businesses and potential customers through testing their concepts at the V&A.
Top 4 finalists (from left to right): Johan Coetzee (Zerocrete), Mark Williams-Wyn (eWaste Africa), Paul Rubin (Nude Foods), Candy Androuakos (Leafline)
The three other enterprises making the final pitch list were:
Leafline which addresses a significant challenge in waste management: babies’ and adults’ diapers, sanitary products, and other associated products, such as breast pads and bed and chair protectors. Disposable versions of these are a significant contributor to landfill and dumping sites; and take hundreds of years to decompose. Leafline manufactures washable and reusable alternatives with natural fibre liners taken from the leaf of the cayenne pineapple. At the end of its life, the product can be buried, when it serves as a fertiliser, making it a truly circular product.
Nude Foods is known as South Africa’s original mainstream plastic-free store, focusing on wholefoods. Its values extend to developing a supply chain of small-scale local producers (majority women and youth led) who follow sustainable, low-impact production methods. It is setting out to extend its reach – and its message – with snackery kiosks offering healthy, ethical options, and operating with a strong focus on circularity and in celebration of local producers.
Zerocrete has set out to redefine the future of construction and design through integrating non-recyclable plastic and waste fabric and low-carbon cement alternatives to make household and other products at a far lower carbon footprint. Lab testing has demonstrated the material outperforms conventional concrete in both durability and functionality. Beyond product innovation, Zerocrete also hosts workshops and drives education around carbon emissions and the role that sustainable materials play in reducing environmental impact.
Judging panel (from left to right): Hans Balyamujura (Deputy Director: USAID – Southern Africa Mobilizing Investment Project) from Johannesburg, Saloshnee Naidoo (Circular Economy Programme Manager: Green Cape) from Cape Town, Chris Whyte (Founder and Managing Director: African Circularity Network) from Maritzburg, Michael Field (Senior Systems Thinking Specialist: The Vikãra Institute) from USA, Dumisani Nyoni (Co-Founder and Co-Chairman: Fronteras Capital) from Zimbabwe.
The Circular Innovation Challenge is supported by the V&A Waterfront and the Vikāra Institute and is a platform for innovative thinking and sharing of ideas for the benefit of our planet. It is another way in which the Waterfront’s Our Better Nature sustainability platform comes to life. Our Better Nature is hinged on the insight that when we act from our better nature, nature gets better, and so collaboration and partnership is a big part of collectively solving for tomorrow.
“Sustainability is one of the V&A Waterfront’s strategic pillars, and within that pillar we hold the goal of being a leading example of circularity in action,” said the Waterfront’s CEO, David Green. “It was inspiring that there was great breadth and depth among the circularity innovations put forward for this Challenge, and we’d encourage all these enterprises to keep up the good work. There’s still a long way to go.”
Introducing the Circular Innovation Challenge: Heather Parker Co-Founder of SOLVE@Waterfront (an NPO owned by the V&A).
Solve Director Heather Parker echoed this. “This Challenge has been a real inspiration,” she said. “The pressing issues of overproduction, over-consumption and a throwaway society don’t go away, but knowing how many people are doing really good, really effective work, and coming up with innovative solutions, makes us so hopeful. From community level to systems level, we get excited about the many different kinds of impact we’re seeing and hearing about.”
At its heart, the Challenge is based on the principle that the linear consumption patterns to which the world mostly defaults are unsustainable. Partly, this is due to the environmental damage caused by the over-production that fuels our appetites for consumption; and partly it is due to the escalating challenge of managing mountains of what is treated as waste. Circularity proposes a different way of thinking, and a vision of a world in which resources are conserved, waste is minimised, and ecosystems are preserved, leading to a thriving and sustainable society.
“Circularity is a critically important way to think about how businesses can both improve efficiencies and better manage climate change drivers,” said Margie Brand of co-sponsor Vikāra Institute.
NOTE: The 2024 Challenge represents an evolution of 2023’s Plastic Circularity Challenge, in recognition of the systemic nature of waste and circularity solutions.
ABOUT SOLVE@WATERFRONT: SOLVE is a not-for-profit entity set up by the V&A Waterfront to give effect to defined strategic projects which meet the Shared Value Ecosystem definition of amplifying positive impact beyond the V&A precinct and into wider communities and spaces.
ABOUT VIKARA INSTITUTE: Vikāra Institute is an international development organization that uses systemic lenses to address global development challenges. Vikāra is a non-profit organization with headquarters in the USA and regional offices in South Africa.
Further information: Heather Parker at hparker@waterfront.co.za and Rozitta de Villiers on rdevilliers@waterfront.co.za
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