WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR WASTE? 108 MILLION TONNES Waste SA Generates Per Year 50% of this is general waste (domestic, building and demolition waste, business waste) 10% only 10% of this total waste is recycled 90% is sent to landfill 44% is unclassified waste (electronic waste, sewage sludge, brine, bottom ash, dust) and 0.93% is hazardous (batteries, toxic chemical waste). BUT TYRES ARE DIFFERENT - NOW 70% ARE BEING DEALT WITH, UP FROM ONLY 4% TWO YEARS AGO. WHICH HAS RESULTED IN 3219 JOBS AND 227 SMMES
ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMES TO LIFE THROUGH CIRCULAR ECONOMIES Hermann Erdmann, CEO at REDISA (Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa) Small businesses are critical in that they form the building blocks of any society. According to a 2010 research report, 91 percent of formal business entities in South Africa are small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), contributing between 52 and 57 percent to the country’s GDP, and about 61 percent to employment. These form the bread and butter of our country, as job providers, poverty reducers, service delivery agents and economy boosters. South Africa’s role on the global stage as a hub for economic growth and empowerment opportunities continues to gather pace. There are, however, critical challenges, in particular the need to create a significant number of jobs for the growing population and to develop home-grown business leaders who are able to access global markets and drive growth in a sustainable and inclusive manner. Transforming ideas into economic opportunities is the crux of entrepreneurship and at REDISA we recognise the possibilities which lie in circular economies, specifically for all those who are willing to look at waste not as waste but as a commodity. The current levels of production and consumption are no longer sustainable. It is anticipated that, by 2030, the world’s population could sit at 9 billion, with an additional 3 billion new middle-class consumers over and above today’s 1.8 billion. Expanding the supply of consumer goods and services to meet this future demand presents a great challenge, but one that a circular economy model is capable of meeting – particularly if it is implemented within every country, region and community. The World Economic Forum estimates that the circular economy could be worth trillion worldwide by 2025. This means that doing more with less would result in additional wealth and jobs, fewer landfill sites, and less resource depletion and environmental damage. Currently, there are only a few countries who are experimenting with more circular thinking – these include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, China, Japan and South Africa. The promise of circular economy initiatives is that they will provide brand new business needs which will simultaneously address resource and environmental challenges, and generate economic activity to fund those needs. Entrepreneurship is acknowledged as one of the drivers of sustainable economic growth because entrepreneurs create new businesses, drive and shape innovation and, ultimately, contribute to productivity. The circular economy focuses on creating and promoting new business opportunities that entail entrepreneurship and eco-innovation with the aim of waste being fed back into the production process as a raw material. I believe that entrepreneurs will be the key custodians responsible for leading the transition to a circular economy business model and closing the loop on dwindling resources. Essentially this is what we need to be focusing on, pairing both entrepreneurial spirit and the concerted effort to finding solutions to the many challenges and problems that we face as a country and a continent. JOIN THE JOURNEY | www.redisa.org.za | /wasteintoworth | @wasteintoworth
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