South Africa: The "recycling evangelists”

Around 7% of South Africans separate their household waste. In a country battling mass unemployment, corruption and crime, recycling is low on the priority list for most and there's no uniform system for collecting separated trash.

Chad Robertson and Nkazimlo Miti are working to promote recycling. In 2018, they founded the startup Regenize and have since been collecting more than 2 tons of recyclable trash a month in the Cape Town suburb of Bridgetown.

But the firm couldn't do it without the help of Bridgetown locals. To get them on board, Robertson and Miti set up a reward scheme. Residents who separate their waste and give it to Regenize receive a voucher they can then use for their shopping, for instance. Some 515 households take part in the award-winning project and the startup now employs 12 people. 

A film by Julia Jaki

Video list

Information

Language
English

Length
6,06 min

Date of publication
2021

Country
South Africa

Project

Financing and capacity building for micro and small Climate-smart Enterprises: Filling the gap of the missing middle