Leafline makes washable nappies and sanitary wear from pineapple leaf fibre – products made by disabled individuals. Read this cool article on the initiative by News 24, and watch this company video.
Where was your business when you entered the Challenge – and how have things evolved?
We entered the Challenge in 2024. At the time Leafline had started supplying products to Spar, and we were looking for assistance to start manufacturing fibre ourselves. Since the Challenge, we have extended our premises and added fibre production facilities.
Something that stands out in our growth was a trip to Italy to showcase our products after completing an Import / Export course with the dtic.
We’ve been steadily increasing the exposure to our brand, and reaching more corporate sponsors for provision of sanitary towels to needy women and girls. Ultimately, we want to contribute to decreasing the volumes of disposables purchased, and introducing a new way of thinking about these products.
What’s next for you?
Leafline has signed up with the United Nations and will assist to set up fibre manufacturing in other parts of Africa.
Any advice you’d give to businesses thinking about applying to the Challenge?
Apply to any initiative that can help spread what your business does. The circular economy needs to be understood if we are going to change the mindset of people.
Life often throws you curveballs. These sometimes carry good lessons; the main thing is to keep going. Here’s an example:
Our team used to collect our raw material, which is other people’s waste material – pineapple leaves – from a particular farm. This farm was run down and overgrown; going there wasn’t a pleasant experience. One morning, the owner said we could no longer come and fetch leaves as he now needed them himself.
Panic hit, as without these leaves we don’t have a product. We reached out to other farmers and found one was prepared to work with us. The farm is a little further out of town, but it is beautifully maintained; we come back smiling and minus the tick bites and thorn wounds we had experienced from the first farm. Also, we have to drive past a game farm to get to it so we are privileged to have a game view on the way in.
SOLVE involvement beyond the Challenge:
Introduced and directed Leafline to a variety of stakeholders (MKem Pharmacy, Kamers / Makers). Published a story in the V&A’s Change Chapters in August 2025. Signed Leafline up as part of the V&A’s procurement database. V&A CSI sponsored sanitary wear for schoolgirls, donated to Falling Forward Foundation as part of Leafline’s Mandela Day initiative.