Bushbuckridge, a municipality in the northeastern part of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, is embarking on a community-driven waste beneficiation initiative aimed at turning waste into opportunity. The project seeks to empower women and youth, create local business opportunities, strengthen the green economy, and foster collaboration among communities, municipalities, private partners, and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs).
The Innovative Solutions for Waste (ISOW) project is led by Plastics SA and funded by GIZ through the Employment Promotion for Women for the Green Transformation in Africa (WE4D) Programme. Its goal is to enhance employment opportunities for women, particularly in green sectors and value chains driving sustainable transformation across Africa.
Baseline and feasibility studies conducted by Plastics SA revealed that much of the waste in Thulamashe and Acornhoek is unmanaged, often burned, dumped, or buried, with only a small portion collected by informal recyclers and buy-back centres. The ISOW project plans to establish systems to intercept valuable materials before they reach landfills, including household and community-based collection, sorting, and pre-processing. These materials will ultimately feed into a beneficiation centre capable of producing marketable products such as recycled boards, glass bricks, and packaging materials.
A recent site visit to Thulamashe and Acornhoek provided the project team with first-hand insights into local conditions. The team assessed residential and business areas, identified illegal dumping hotspots, and evaluated current waste management practices. They also toured the new Regional Landfill Site in Thulamashe, planned as the future location for the Beneficiation Centre, and discussed integration and planning with municipal representatives.
To understand the local recycling ecosystem, the team visited existing buy-back centres, examining their scale, operations, and potential partnerships to strengthen local value chains. The visit concluded with a stakeholder workshop at the Bohlabela Chamber, bringing together key actors to align on opportunities, challenges, and a shared vision for a community-driven waste beneficiation system. The workshop involved partners including the Moss Group, Aquila Environmental, the University of the Western Cape, and Kruger to Canyons Biosphere.
Partnerships with PROs such as Petco, Polyco, and Metpac-SA will provide the project with infrastructure, training, technical expertise, and essential equipment including trailers and bailing machines. According to Anton Hanekom, Executive Director of Plastics SA, the project is not just about waste management, but about empowering communities, creating jobs, and protecting the environment.
Community engagement is critical to the project’s success. Collaborating closely with the municipality, the project aims to achieve goals including job creation, skills development, education, and awareness. Douw Steyn, Director of Sustainability at Plastics SA, emphasized that fostering a sense of ownership and demonstrating tangible benefits will encourage community participation, especially in waste separation at source.
The ISOW team has recently expanded with the addition of Samuel Kumbula as Project Manager and Hope Marema as Project Coordinator, a local resident familiar with the community dynamics. Waste ambassadors will soon be appointed to support education, outreach, and active participation, ensuring the system is tailored to local needs and builds community ownership.
The WE4D programme, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-funded by the European Union and Norway, supports ISOW as part of its broader initiative to promote sustainable economic growth and inclusive employment across Africa. In South Africa, WE4D is implemented through the Centre of Cooperation with the Private Sector (CCPS), leveraging public-private partnerships to ensure that women, youth, and communities remain at the centre of transformation.
