Green Economy Journal Issue 39

Thought leadership
We need to acknowledge that our tech will never be 100%, but more
importantly we need to start progressing.
I often revert to some of the older terminologies to describe what I am
doing, like my old favourite of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Not perfect, but
simple. It’s not that I criticise the use of Circular Economy – far from it. I
am currently the country leader for South Africa for the African Circular
Economy Network, ACEN, which has over 100 members in 23 countries
– although we have some academic purists in that bunch, this is largely a
gathering of people who are just getting on with it.
What I am doing in the waste sector regarding the LCA approach is
just a simpler manner of calculating all the inputs, outputs and impacts
that people often overlook; and that is essentially all related to Circular
Economy. All too often in my sector, Circular Economy is seen in terms of
materials and resources and their related offsets of virgin materials and
resource management or reuse. Yes, this is a key element of what we are
doing, but circularity includes all elements impacted by this, including
the social and environmental impacts. Let’s illustrate this by manner of an
example:
Glass recycling is limited to the issue of logistics in getting bottle glass
to the manufacturers whose facilities are based in Johannesburg and, to a
smaller extent, Cape Town. Logistically, particularly with the huge increases
in fuel costs over the past, it is becoming less viable in provinces that are
remote from the processing facilities. Consequently, glass recycling does
not make economical sense in areas such as Eastern Cape, Northern Cape
and KwaZulu-Natal.
With recycling not economically viable, we need to look at innovation
and alternative markets where we can unlock the value of the commodity
in different ways. There are over 30 different applications for glass, so let’s
just consider two: water filtration and sandblasting grit.
We mine sand from our rivers for water filtration, which has negative
impacts on biodiversity, water yield and water quality. Each of these
has a value, and with water this is an extremely valuable resource in our
climate. Not to mention that most of our mined sand in this country is
done so illegally. If we can work with users of this commodity to change
from unsustainable mined sand to processed glass, we develop a chain
of events.
The first is that we create a local market for collectors in the informal
sector where the value of collecting glass can again sustain incomes and
livelihoods. This has a social impact in both creating incomes, but also
removes this waste from the environment where there are also negative
We need to work with government and
corporates to drive the market through
material specification, green procurement
policies and supply chain management.
health and safety impacts. This needs to be valorised. The environmental
benefit is less impact on water quality, yield and biodiversity that also
has a value.
Economically, we are diverting materials from landfill where municipal
landfill airspace is a valued commodity. Next, we create positive economic
outcomes through the development of enterprises that can be supported
to not only collect, but also to process the waste into alternative products
for the filtration market. The unintended consequence is that glass is a
better filtration medium that reduces water pressure and thus electricity
and maintenance costs to run pumps.
Backwashing is more efficient and quicker leading to less water loss
from general maintenance. Glass also lasts much longer than sand as a
filtration medium, and after its useful end can be processed again into
smaller fractions that can be used for other applications.
Sandblasting grit is used in massive quantities in the local market, yet
few people realise that the large majority of this is just glass and is imported
from China at a price 15-20 times the value of what we can produce locally
from a commodity that either is dumped in the environment or landfilled.
The impact of this is that we are throwing away our own resource at cost
to either landfill or the environment, and then negatively impacting our
balance of trade by importing a product at substantially higher costs than
we can produce locally.
We need to work with the government and corporates to drive the
market through material specification, green procurement policies
and supply chain management. A simple task that would have multiple
benefits for the economy (water, waste, energy, jobs, manufacturing, etc).
This simple example illustrates the benefits of Circular Economy. Now
imagine the butterfly effect if it is applied as an underlying principle in
other processes. No matter what you call it, make it a Circular Economy.
*Chris Whyte is the Founder of USE-IT
The circular economy is a new way of creating value, and
ultimately prosperity. It works by extending a product’s
lifespan through improved design and servicing and relocating
the waste from the end of the supply chain to the beginning.
This circular approach, in effect, uses resources more efficiently
by using them over and over, not only once. Recycling is a key
part of the circular economy, helping to protect our natural
resources. – Leon Grobbelaar, President of Institute of Waste
Management of southern Africa
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