Collaboration between business and government to support recycling in informal and low-income settlements

The document details a pilot project in Buffalo City, South Africa, where a partnership between government, a producer responsibility organisation (Polyco), and a business chamber created hybrid recycling facilities. These sites combine free community drop-offs with paid buyback centres for waste reclaimers using a cashless voucher system. While only two of four planned sites (Southernwood and Commercial Road) were established by late 2021 due to COVID-19 delays, the project created 10 jobs and diverted significant tonnage from landfills, demonstrating a replicable model for extended producer responsibility.

• The project implemented a hybrid model combining a free community drop-off facility with a buyback centre where waste reclaimers are paid via a cashless web-based app called WeighPay, which provides vouchers for vendors such as Shoprite/Checkers, U-Save, Boxer, Pick ’ n Pay and Debonairs.
• Between October and December 2021, the two operational sites created 10 jobs and diverted waste from landfills, with the Southernwood site averaging 20 tonnes per month and the Commercial Road site averaging 8 tonnes per month.
• The partnership divided responsibilities to overcome municipal challenges: Buffalo City provided land and civil engineering, the Border-Kei Chamber of Business managed the operation contract, and Polyco funded infrastructure including solar power, shipping containers, and software.
• Key lessons from the pilot include the importance of existing partnerships to reduce municipal 'red tape' regarding land access, the observation that a viable business case requires approximately 10 tonnes of recyclables per month, and the need to distinguish between business viability and service delivery viability.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Collaboration between business and government to support recycling in informal and low-income settlements. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Buffalo-City-1.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Collaboration between business and government to support recycling in informal and low-income settlements. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Buffalo-City-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Collaboration between business and government to support recycling in informal and low-income settlements |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Buffalo-City-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendcollaboration, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Collaboration between business and government to support recycling in informal and low-income settlements}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Buffalo-City-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }