Enterprise Development Programme: Building economic resilience through waste diversion and entrepreneurship in Atlantis, South Africa

This case study describes the Enterprise Development Programme (EDP), an initiative started by GreenCape in 2017 to foster green economic growth and economic resilience in Atlantis, South Africa. The programme focuses on waste diversion and entrepreneurship by identifying waste stream opportunities and providing business training and support to entrepreneurs and established businesses.

• Between 2015 and 2016, the Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) engaged 46 local manufacturers across 13 sectors in the Atlantis Special Economic Zone, identifying 417 resources consisting of 209 'haves' and 208 'wants'.
• WISP facilitated five synergies that resulted in 3,500 tonnes of CO2e greenhouse gas reduction, 32 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill, R2.7 million in cost savings, and R2.1 million in additional revenue.
• The Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) was launched in February 2017 in partnership with the South African Renewable Energy Business Incubator (SAREBI) to support entrepreneurs in creating business plans based on WISP's identified waste stream opportunities.
• A second iteration of the EDP began in February 2018, providing information on available waste materials without existing solutions, including items such as chemically treated wood products, foundry sand, laminated glass, and used coffee grounds.
• The EDP identified three primary lessons: the need for product development specialists to improve entrepreneur success rates, the challenge of high start-up costs associated with importing high-tech recycling solutions over labour-intensive ones, and the need to verify material availability due to the time required for start-ups to become operational.
• In July 2019, WISP and the City of Cape Town’s Enterprise and Investment Department launched a new project in the Atlantis Industrial Area focusing on creating value within existing businesses with established track records to reduce the risks associated with the start-up phase.

APA

GreenCape (2019). Enterprise Development Programme: Building economic resilience through waste diversion and entrepreneurship in Atlantis, South Africa. https://greencape.co.za/assets/GreenCape_Resilience-Case-Study-3_EDP_ONLINE-25-11-2019.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Enterprise Development Programme: Building economic resilience through waste diversion and entrepreneurship in Atlantis, South Africa. 2019. https://greencape.co.za/assets/GreenCape_Resilience-Case-Study-3_EDP_ONLINE-25-11-2019.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Enterprise Development Programme: Building economic resilience through waste diversion and entrepreneurship in Atlantis, South Africa |date=2019 |url=https://greencape.co.za/assets/GreenCape_Resilience-Case-Study-3_EDP_ONLINE-25-11-2019.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2019enterprise, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Enterprise Development Programme: Building economic resilience through waste diversion and entrepreneurship in Atlantis, South Africa}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2019}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/assets/GreenCape_Resilience-Case-Study-3_EDP_ONLINE-25-11-2019.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }