Recycling Makes Cents

This case study describes a circular economy initiative by sewing thread manufacturer ACA Threads to recover and reuse polypropylene spools and cones, resulting in financial savings, landfill diversion, and social investment.

• ACA Threads implemented a buy-back system for empty polypropylene spools and cones from customers, which are then cleaned and labels removed by the Association for Physically Disabled in PE and the Worcester School for the Blind. These units are returned to production or sold to an injection moulder to be reground, with the company aiming to reach a 50% recycling rate by 2014 from a current rate of 21%.
• Over a five-year period, the recycling initiative delivered significant economic benefits, including more than R460,000 in savings for ACA Threads through the recovery and reuse of units, and over R55,000 in landfill diversion savings for its customers. Additionally, ACA Threads paid more than R41,500 back to its customers.
• The environmental impact of the program over five years included the diversion of 7 tons of non-biodegradable polypropylene and a total volume of 295 m3 from landfill.
• The initiative generated social benefits, including R120,900 in income for the Worcester School for the Blind and the Association for Physically Disabled. Furthermore, ACA Threads provided R238,000 over 8 years to Cavelleria Primary for equipment, trips, and a recycling centre, and over R10,000 to a football club in Wallacedene for youth development.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Recycling Makes Cents. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Recycling-Makes-Cents-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Recycling Makes Cents. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Recycling-Makes-Cents-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Recycling Makes Cents |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Recycling-Makes-Cents-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendrecycling, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Recycling Makes Cents}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Recycling-Makes-Cents-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }