The origins of the concept of the circular economy go back to the late 1970s,
when Walter R. Stahel, a founding father of industrial sustainability,
coined the term “cradle to cradle,” a design concept that aims to reduce waste
by focusing on products that are safe for humans and the environment.
The World Economic Forum has formalised what it terms The Circular Economy Imperative, estimating that the global population will reach close to 9 billion by 2030–including 3 billion new middle-class consumers. “This places unprecedented pressure on natural resources to meet future consumer demand. The circular economy is a redesign of this future, where industrial systems are restorative and regenerative by intention. Nothing that is made in a circular economy becomes waste, moving away from our current linear ‘take-make-dispose’ economy. The circular economy’s potential for innovation, job creation and economic development is huge: estimates indicate a trillion-dollar opportunity.”
Some of the challenges to implementing circular economy in societies include:
– Lack of efficient recycling technologies
– Fear of losing recurrent customers
– No proper implementation of localised regulations
– No proper understanding of emerging business models
– High investment costs
Seven sectors prioritised
The African Union, with the technical support of the European Union, has developed a Continental Circular Economy Action Plan (2024–2034). The plan will provide direction to the continent towards a competitive and cleaner development pathway by setting out Africa’s key priorities and intervention areas for an enhanced circular economy approach to development.
Seven sectors have been prioritised: water, waste, energy, agri-food and fisheries, transport and mobility, tourism and industry (including construction, packaging, plastics, textiles, electronics and mining).
Smaller-scale BSF projects
“I think agriculture and the green economy are synonymous, and Africa being an agribusiness-driven continent with huge potential, I think it’s an overstated fact that agriculture and sustainable agriculture and the circular economy are all terms that are synonymous.” So says Hennie van der Merwe, the CEO of the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC), a Stellenbosch-based firm specialising in agribusiness project identification, development, facilitation and management across the African continent.
He adds: “There’s an abundance of opportunities to showcase some of what’s already been done and new technologies. And I think one of the things that I believe we can look at, not only the circular economy but the waste recycling and linking, for instance, black soldier fly (BSF) production to composting and the value that it brings, not only in fast-tracking the processing of waste, but the fact that you end up with a very valuable product that can go to human and animal use, and you create a compost called frass that can go back into the plant production business.”
Van der Merwe says while the insect protein business has attracted huge funding, most of it is for industrial-scale projects. “There are now technologies on a smaller scale, rather than just large industrial scale technologies, that we’re excited about. We’re seeing the opportunity for the African market in smaller-scale production units. We’re currently working with a technology company on testing the first prototype here in Cape Town.” [Read the full interview here.]
Localised waste recovery
Lisa Johansson, Programme Manager: Green Finance at GreenCape, agrees that the BSF is expected to play an important role in “the processing of organic waste into marketable alternative insect protein for animal feed. The benefits of this is that it is a fairly low-tech solution and can be localised for waste recovery.”
Lisa was one of the authors of the report on the , a technical report prepared for the Presidential Climate Commission. “Regarding opportunities in the circular economy, we are seeing five main areas with growth related to the circular economy. They involve food systems and then packaging with, of course, recycling plastic packaging within the packaging industry. We also see the element of electronic waste remediation and solving that problem.”
“Another area within the circular economy is fashion and textiles, the role that fashion plays in our world and how we responsibly respond to this threat of fast fashion and textile waste. And then of course, the built-in environment and how we look at builders rubble and redesigning how we build, using input resources that support sustainability and avoid rubble and builders waste ending up in landfills.”
Circular economy part of student life
The African Leadership University (ALU), located in Kigali, Rwanda and Pamplemousses, Mauritius, says it is on a mission “to catalyse the transformation of Africa” by including a circular economy focus across its students’ experiences at the institution. The includes teaching circular economy in several courses, including in micro- and macroeconomics and global challenges. ALU also boasts a school of wildlife conservation, several research studies experimenting with composting as well as forest conservation.
ALU has also recently launched Circul-Ate, a student-run, on-campus farming cooperative that uses regenerative permaculture principles to circulate campus waste into produce sold by the canteen restaurants. ALU’s students have started circular economy ventures, such as Wastezon, an e-waste recycling company, with others currently in the incubation phase, such as a circular fashion business, an asset sharing library network and more.
Funding for waste-to-energy plant
Tony van Til, CEO and owner of Quispiam Renewable Energy (Pty) Ltd, has managed to close a PPA with the Ekurhuleni Metro, east of Johannesburg, to provide electricity from waste to the municipality. He is now looking for funding to build his waste-to-energy plant, which will take 2.5 years.
Says Tony: “According to the South African Integrated Resource Plan, by 2030, municipalities must produce 30% of their energy from renewable resources. Ekurhuleni is one of the first to start. They’ve been behind us in a big way. But it’s also an opportunity to get rid of the waste. We are in the fortunate position that we can generate 24 hours a day.”
Van Til says they plan to also reach out to informal waste pickers who often work in very dangerous conditions on waste dumps and improve their working conditions. “In our project, we will take some of those waste pickers and give them formal opportunities and bring them into our business as waste pickers.” [Read the full interview here.]
Image: TaylorMade Water Solutions
From wastewater to spinach
The concept of a circular economy for wastewater has also been gaining traction among policymakers, engineers and environmentalists, emphasising the shift from viewing wastewater as a nuisance to being a valuable resource that can play a pivotal role in fostering sustainable development.
Case in point: a project at the Ibhayi Brewery in Port Elizabeth by TaylorMade Water Solutions, where spinach is grown using wastewater. This innovative solution is supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). “One of the things that we’re looking at is the sustainability of projects,” says Mchenge Nyoka, UNIDO National Project Coordinator,“ so we try to build as many partnerships as possible to scale up the work, and these partnerships that we are fostering are between Flemish institutions and South African-based institutions, from researchers of research institutions to even technology providers.” [Read full interview here.]
Making producers responsible
Circular Energy NPC is registered as a not-for-profit, producer responsibility organisation (PRO). They operate a nationwide take-back system for the collection, recycling and environmentally sound processing of electrical and electronic equipment, lighting and lighting equipment, paper and packaging, portable batteries and lubricant oil.
Patricia Schröder is the CEO: “by enabling the Extended Producer Responsibility policy instrument reduces the environmental impact of a product throughout every step of a product’s lifecycle and mimics natural systems with no waste generation. Our ethos is to embrace circularity of systems and products to effect change from a linear to a circular approach that benefits the African continent in terms of waste minimisation, job creation and skills development, with a positive impact on the climate and ecosystems.”
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