Meet the winner of our Circular Innovation Challenge
We are pleased to announce that eWaste Africa is the winner of our Circular Innovation Challenge for 2024.
EWaste Africa is a 10-year-old Maritzburg-based business which provides solutions for difficult-to-dispose-of lighting and electronic waste. The company, headed up by founder and MD Pravashan Naidoo and Chief Technology Officer Mark Williams-Wynn, won our Challenge for their pioneering work on the evolving and gnarly problem of defunct solar panels. These panels, along with other e-waste, have since 2021 been banned from landfill in South Africa because they’re classed as hazardous waste. Also, 90% of each panel is laminate glass that can’t be recycled. So as the ±25 million PV panels already installed in South Africa reach their end, what’s the solution? The difficulties associated with disposing of them mean they potentially become the very opposite of a green technology.
To give a sense of the scale of the problem, GreenCape has previously – some say, conservatively – estimated that by this year (2024) South Africa will have 900 tonnes of PV waste needing to be dealt with, a figure which will grow to 2 000 tonnes by 2026.
EWaste Africa has developed a process to address this growing problem, on three fronts:
- Where possible, refurbishing the panels;
- Where refurbishment is not possible, deconstructing the panels and recovering the metals for recycling, mitigating the need to extend and deepen mining operations; and
- Downcycling the glass into interlocking pavers. EWaste Africa points out that although South Africa is good at recycling food-grade glass (e.g. bottles), it has no solutions for other forms of glass, including that from solar panels.
The team is working on use solutions for upcycling rather than downcycling this glass, but the thinking there is still at in the research and development stage.
EWaste Africa took home R200 000 and a basketful of the kind of resources that can make a real difference to a growing enterprise: a training programme of their choosing to address any specific needs the business or individuals within it may have; mentorship where required and access to business contacts; and excellent exposure to other businesses and potential customers through testing their concepts at the V&A.
OUR JUDGES
The Circular Innovation Challenge is supported by the V&A Waterfront and the Vikāra Institute ; and is a platform for innovative thinking and sharing of ideas for the benefit of our planet. SOLVE was lucky to be able to work with our partners to secure an excellent judging panel: see below.
OUR OTHER FINALISTS
The three other enterprises making the final pitch list were:
Leafline which addresses a significant challenge in waste management: babies’ and adults’ diapers, sanitary products, and other associated products, such as breast pads and bed and chair protectors. Disposable versions of these are a significant contributor to landfill and informal dumping sites; and take hundreds of years to decompose. Leafline manufactures washable and reusable alternatives with natural fibre liners taken from the leaf of the cayenne pineapple. At the end of its life, the product can be buried, when it serves as a fertiliser, making it a truly circular product.
Nude Foods is known as South Africa’s original mainstream plastic-free store, focusing on wholefoods. Its values extend to developing a supply chain of small-scale local producers (majority women and youth led) who follow sustainable, low-impact production methods. It is setting out to extend its reach – and its message – with snackery kiosks offering healthy, ethical options, and operating with a strong focus on circularity and in celebration of local producers. Nude Foods’ intention is to support entrepreneurship by adopting a franchise model with the kiosks, training and supporting the funding of new franchisees.
Zerocrete integrates non-recyclable plastic and waste fabric and low-carbon cement alternatives to make household and other products at a far lower carbon footprint. Lab testing has demonstrated the material outperforms conventional concrete in both durability and functionality. Beyond product innovation, Zerocrete also hosts workshops and drives education around carbon emissions and the role that sustainable materials play in reducing environmental impact; and the products they design are very beautiful.
At its heart, the Challenge is based on the principle that the linear consumption patterns to which the world mostly defaults are unsustainable. Partly, this is due to the environmental damage caused by the over-production that fuels our appetites for consumption; and partly it is due to the escalating challenge of managing mountains of what is treated as waste. Circularity proposes a different way of thinking, and a vision of a world in which resources are conserved, waste is minimised, and ecosystems are preserved, leading to a thriving and sustainable society.
NOTE: The 2024 Challenge represents an evolution of 2023’s Plastic Circularity Challenge, in recognition of the systemic nature of waste and circularity solutions.
ABOUT SOLVE@WATERFRONT: SOLVE is a not-for-profit entity set up by the V&A Waterfront to give effect to defined strategic projects which meet the Shared Value Ecosystem definition of amplifying positive impact beyond the V&A precinct and into wider communities and spaces.
ABOUT VIKARA INSTITUTE: Vikāra Institute is an international development organization that uses systemic lenses to address global development challenges. Vikāra is a non-profit organization with headquarters in the USA and regional offices in South Africa.