South African Business 2018 edition

Sustainability is a
new priority for business
The circular economy, renewable energy and energy efficiency are creating new industries.
In June 2017 the Jeppe Park Primary School in
Johannesburg became the 250th building to receive
a green building certificate from the Green Building
Council South Africa. In the process, it became the first
school building in Africa to receive such a certificate.
The combined effect of the 250 buildings being
built in a sustainable way will lead to annual savings of
450-million kilograms of CO2, 350-million litres of water
and 380-million kilowatt hours of energy.
Awareness of sustainability has grown exponentially
in the last few years and every sector is trying to
become greener, cleaner and more efficient. Buildings
are massive consumers of energy and so it is fitting
that they have been targeted for savings, or energyefficiency
drives.
But paying attention to sustainability in every sector
in the economy makes good sense, both economically
and for the health of the planet and its inhabitants.
The idea of the circular economy is taking hold: rather
than using resources and simply throwing them away,
thought is given to the source of energy (renewable
rather than finite), the efficiency of the production
process (reducing leaks and getting optimal use of
resources) and recycling or reusing materials (rather
than dumping them).
Organisations such as the National Cleaner
Production Centre (NCPC-SA) encourages “Industrial
Symbiosis”, the use of unused or left-over resources
by one company after another company has used
them. The material itself could be material, energy,
water or waste. The last three are at the core of the
sustainability debate.
GreenCape puts the value of South Africa’s waste
economy at R15-billion but suggests that another
R17-billion could be unlocked if all of a specified 13
waste cycles were recycled (Waste Economy Market
Intelligence Report).
Household waste is managed by municipalities or
companies contracted to municipalities. Only 10% of
South Africa’s waste is currently recycled and the waste
industry is dominated by collection and landfilling. A
national goal is to double that percentage by 2019 but
finding alternatives could be an expensive process.
GreenCape suggests that there are several business
opportunities for the private sector in these
sectors: recyclables (plastics), organics, e-waste, and
construction and demolition waste.
The Southern African Energy Efficiency
Confederation (SAEEC) website refers to the areas it
covers, and listing them illustrates the scope of the
field: energy engineering and energy management,
renewable and alternative energy, power generation,
energy services, sustainability, and all related areas.
South Africa’s moves towards sustainability are
happening in a global context that includes the adoption
in 2015 of the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable
Development Goals. The Paris Agreement on climate
change in 2016 is providing further stimulus on the
road to reduced carbon emissions and reduced
reliance on fossil fuels.
These agreements set out to protect the planet
from destruction, but they also represent an opportunity
to create new markets: wind, solar, biogass, fuel
efficiency, improved roofing and window sealant
materials – the list is long.
Practical steps
South Africa embarked on an ambitious programme
to promote renewable energy with its
Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers
Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Between 2012
and 2016 it generated nearly R20-billion in actual or
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