The circular economy has not only become a hot topic, but one that has the potential to inspire and empower. More and more businesses are being built around this principle and aim to create jobs while tackling one of the biggest global challenges: Waste.
To enable other businesses to achieve exactly this, Petco, one of South Africa’s leading Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO), have developed the Petco Empowerment Fund.
Legislation in South Africa compels producers and manufacturers who generate large amounts of waste paper and packaging through commercial manufacture, conversion, and refurbishment to create or join an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme. The motivation behind this is that, due to the immense impact that these businesses have on the environment, these brands need to implement programmes that reduce the impact they have.
Companies such as Petco have risen to the occasion to create EPR programmes on their clients’ behalf. Now, they are giving back to the SMME community with an empowerment programme that drives the circular economy even further.
The Petco Empowerment Fund
Petco chief executive officer Telly Chauke said building a sustainable circular economy requires a vision that goes beyond capacitating players to remain where they are in the collection and recycling value chain, and instead empowers them to grow in scale and impact.
“We should be creating a pipeline of growth by providing support at all levels – from waste picker projects right up to emerging industrialists – to assist them to participate meaningfully in the value chain, and ensure a stronger, more inclusive recycling landscape in South Africa,” said Chauke.
The Petco Empowerment Fund, which is funded by contributions from Petco’s producer members and other benefactors, provides accessible finance and support to B-BBEE Level 1 SMMEs to help them increase their operational capacity, thereby contributing to their increased ability to collect recyclable materials.
“Our Petco Empowerment Fund is the result of streamlining and repositioning our development investment strategy to expand beyond our existing, day-to-day support for projects. It allows us to create upward mobility and scale up our developmental impact.”
Proven Change in the Circular Economy
Petco works closely with the entire collection and recycling value chain to ensure that ample opportunities are created at scale for individuals and communities to take part, to take their businesses forward and move up the value chain. Support is often provided over the course of several years, ensuring the business grows and thrives. This often takes the form of equipment sponsorship, education and training.
SMEs like Why Waste, the first business to benefit from the empowerment fund, facilitate the growth of the circular economy.
“Why Waste was selected for the grant based on its alignment with Petco’s core funding priorities of transformation, enterprise development, impact and growth potential, as well as sustainability and localisation,” says Samu Mkhize, Petco’s general manager for recycling and collections.
Aside from the socio-economic benefits, Why Waste projects to grow its collection volumes by 20 to 25%, which will see an additional 1000 to 1500 tonnes of recyclable packaging kept out of the environment or landfill each year.
“Why Waste has demonstrated its commitment to inclusive employment practices, has a history of community empowerment as well as proven operational capacity, with high – and growing – recycling volumes that are stimulating the local green economy,” Mkhize says.
Driving the Circular Economy
The circular economy began as an idea that takes the concept of production and consumption and flips it on its head. It reduces the waste caused by production not only in the form of the unused materials, but also as the final product that reaches the end of its lifespan. Projects like the Petco Empowerment Fund drive innovation amongst SMEs in the circular economy to find new ways of reducing the waste that consumers create.
Be it fashion, electronics, food waste, automotive or any other industry, waste is unavoidable, except through a circular model that attempts to address a product’s end of life during its beginnings.
More and more small businesses can consider the impact that it’s products have on the environment, once it is done, or they can attempt to find ways to include recycled materials that lower the impact they have on the environment.
