CIRCULAR INNOVATION CHALLENGE 2026

Time Left to Enter

Ready to take your circular innovation to the next stage?

The Circular Innovation Challenge 2026 is looking for innovative Southern African businesses with solutions ready for testing, implementation or scaling. If you are reducing waste, keeping materials in use, or regenerating nature through circular principles, this is your opportunity to accelerate your impact.

At the same time, the challenge aims to promote social inclusion, create jobs, and enhance wellbeing by designing systems that benefit people and the planet.

We are looking for circular solutions across sectors including; Agriculture, Construction, Energy, Manufacturing, Packaging, Technology, Food Systems, Fashion & Textiles and Waste & Resource Management to name a few.

The Circular Innovation Challenge is not simply funding a business. It is about identifying, celebrating and elevating circular economy businesses that deserve greater visibility, stronger connections and opportunities to scale their impact. If you are building a circular business ready for its next stage of growth – we encourage you to apply.

Application process

All entries to the Circularity Challenge must be submitted by using the online application form.

Before submitting your entry, please ensure that:

• You have read and understood the Terms and Conditions
• Your application is aligned with the aim of the challenge and its criteria.
• You meet the eligibility criteria.

Important dates

• 20 September 2026 – Closed for entries
• 21 October 2026 – Pitch session in Cape Town

View or download the pdf version of the challenge manual HERE

Ready to turn your circular innovation into real-world impact?

With the support of the V&A Waterfront and The Vikãra Institute, SOLVE@Waterfront is calling for innovative solutions to address waste challenges in Southern Africa through circular principles.

Eligibility

You should enter if:

• Your business is contributing to circularity as per the definition shared.
• You have a scalable service or product currently or soon to be available on the market.
• All solutions submitted must be beyond the ideation phase. Applications must demonstrate that their solution is ready to move into pilot or implementation phase.
• Your product, service, technology or business model is clearly innovative and not yet mainstream.
• You are looking to grow your economic, social, and environmental impact.
• Intellectual Property rights reside in or are owned by your company.
• The V&A Waterfront’s strategic pillars of inclusivity, opportunity and sustainability are evident in the way you constitute your team and the way you approach your work.

How we support our finalists?

• Pre-mentoring by members of SOLVE: 1:1 mentoring to improve and adapt your pitch for the competition.
• Join a dedicated pitching session at the annual Market Systems Symposium hosted by The Vikãra Institute in Cape Town on 21 October 2026 to present your innovation to an audience of people working in a circular paradigm including potential collaborators.
• Travel subsidy towards your travel costs from airports if coming from outside of Cape Town for pitching and award events.
• Accommodation – finalists from outside Cape Town will receive two nights’ free accommodation with breakfast included.

Winner’s package

• The opportunity to test your product, innovation or service at the V&A Waterfront, which represents significant exposure. Note: The V&A Waterfront precinct has an annual footfall of over 26 million visits of which 56% are Capetonian, 14% domestic, and 30% international.
• Tailor-made training / mentorship, if needed, according to the needs of your business to the value of R100 000.
• Cash investment into your business to the value of R250 000.
• SOLVE@Waterfront will facilitate relevant introductions to a network of related businesses and organisations.
• Profile on partners’ websites and social media channels.

Terms and Conditions

• Intellectual property will remain yours at all times.
• You are willing to work with the SOLVE team to determine if the prototype of your product or service is suitable for testing at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. (Various behind-the-scenes opportunities exist.) If suitable, you commit to working with the SOLVE team to set up a test and establish appropriate monitoring and evaluation structures.
• You are ready to commit to a training or mentorship programme, if required, that is tailored to and supports your business, and which we will discuss and agree with all finalists before the final judging.
• Finalists must be willing and able to undertake a pre-voting evaluation session with the core organising team. This might involve in-person or digital meetings of no more than 120 minutes.
• The sponsors and organisers of this challenge (“Sponsors”) are not responsible for any claims, losses, damages, or injuries arising out of or in connection with participation in the challenge. Sponsors are not responsible for the actions or omissions of any third-party vendors or partners involved in the challenge. Sponsors are not responsible for any cancellation, modification, or discontinuation of the challenge due to unforeseen events beyond their control.

View the full terms and conditions here.

Some of the things we will be looking at in the judging process include:

Impact and vision

• How much impact will your circular innovation have?
• To what extent is environmental and/or social impact embedded in your long-term goals?
• What is the potential for employment, job creation and improving working conditions?

Business model

• Product-market fit and market potential
• Innovation approach
• Current traction and/or growth strategy
• Scalability

Technology

• Intellectual Property rights reside in or are owned by your company.
• If the innovation is built on a technology or technology, including both software and hardware, that it/they is/are reliable.
• Innovation
• Adaptability and scalability

What do we mean by circular innovation?

The Circular Innovation Challenge is seeking solutions that help eliminate waste and pollution, keep materials at their highest value, and regenerate nature. Explore the principles below and discover how the V&A Waterfront is already putting circular thinking into practice through its operations, partnerships and innovation initiatives.

The circular economy has three core principles:

1. designing waste and pollution out of the system;
2. keeping materials at their highest value;
3. and regenerating nature.

We are seeking entries of products, technologies and/or services which encourage the move from a linear to a circular economy. Our vision is a future in which everyday items such as textiles and plastics, food production and construction materials, and byproducts of living such as waste and blackwater, are produced, consumed, and/or managed in a circular and regenerative manner. Our vision, thus, is a world in which resources are conserved, waste is minimised, and ecosystems are preserved, leading to a thriving and sustainable society.

If you are based in Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and have developed an innovative solution that meets the definition of circularity, and have at least a prototype ready for testing, we encourage you to make use of this opportunity to grow and develop your network and your business.

What opportunities are available in circularity?

The “10 Rs” ladder of circularity is a useful reference, indicating as it does the principles of circularity. These “Rs” are, in order:

1. Refuse
2. Rethink or redesign
3. Reduce
4. Reuse
5. Repair and
6. Refurbish
7. Remanufacture
8. Repurpose
9. Recycle
10. Recover

The model below by Circularise shows the opportunities available across the product life cycle. As opposed to the linear economy model of production and consumption we have lived with so far, a circular economy involves the 10 Rs and ensures the use of materials and products for “as long as possible”. This aims to reduce our use of the world’s resources, cut down waste generation, and ultimately diminish carbon emissions, while also making products and goods accessible to people.

Companies can work towards a circular economy in many ways: they can extend the useful life of any product by conserving materials, using sharing economy platforms, offering products as a service, increasing the lifetime of a product by rethinking the product’s design, increasing durability, allowing for repairing and maintenance, as well as dismantling and finally recycling (source: https://divaenvitec.com/).

Source: Circularise.com

Practical examples:

For reference and inspirational purposes, we’re sharing some examples of the work the V&A Waterfront already does as part of its commitment to advancing the circular economy agenda. There are many more examples of valid circular activity, but these examples show some existing practical actions, partnerships, and community engagements which contribute to a more sustainable and resilient urban environment. For the winner of our Challenge, these and other initiatives and partnerships can be enlisted in appropriate ways:

Case Example: STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE for V&A Waterfront	Case Example: PRIORITY ACTION for V&A Waterfront
Waste reduction and resource efficiency – textiles, organic waste, plastics, glass, paper, etc	Recover and recycle materials (an off-taker who creates value from the recyclables is required for this to count as circular) Implement take-back programmes (again, an off-taker is required) Commission design that maximises product lifespan Prioritise reuse, repair, remanufacturing (not just recycling) Invest in innovative technologies, such as blackwater recycling
Collaboration and ecosystem development	Support closed-loop systems and or shared infrastructure Facilitate collaboration towards circular outcomes among business, government, NGOs and academia Effecting behaviour change, for example around plastic consumption or mindful food choices Linking circularity requirements to supplier agreements and or operational systems
Consumer engagement and education	Educate consumers and empower sustainable choice Drive awareness of, demand for, and adoption of circular products and services Make circularity visible & experiential
Innovation and thought leadership	Test new materials and technologies Provide platform and opportunity for research and product development Develop and scale circular business models (product-as-a-service, leasing, shared platforms)

If you have any challenges with the submission process, please email Rozitta at rdevilliers@waterfront.co.za

View or download the pdf version of the challenge manual HERE