Sungula Nkabinde
For the entrepreneur, glass recycling can be big business. The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) has over 900 entrepreneurs, which it assists in an effort to create jobs.
Glass producers Nampak and Consol pay about R300 million to TGRC for recycled glass annually, which since 2006 has created income-generating opportunities for more than 30 000 people.
Ex-policeman Isaac Selemela quit the force in 2007 to start his glass recycling company, Selemela Recycling. He had one small truck when he started collecting bottles on the streets and highways of Gauteng. He received R1 900 for his first load; he now owns five trucks and employs 14 people.
From a plot in Pretoria, he repurchases waste glass from 30 to 40 smaller entrepreneurs daily. He recently started doing business on a smaller plot in Mpumalanga.
Providing Consol with about 900 tons of glass monthly, he estimates his annual revenue at around R648 000.
“I give a lot back to the community. I sponsor a hockey team in Soshanguve and I support a home for disabled children… but business is good in glass recycling,” Selemela said.
TGRC said: “Isaac attributes his success to hard work and determination, but the cornerstone of his approach to business is maintaining and building good community relationships. His disadvantaged background led him to believe in the importance of developing the communities in which he operates.”
Shabeer Jhetam, the chief executive of TGRC, says the entrepreneur development initiatives not only reduce poverty, but also reduce landfill costs and conserve energy.
The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle, the company says, can run a 100-watt light bulb for one hour.
It also causes 20 percent less air pollution and 50 percent less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
The company recycled 338 265 tons of glass over the past fiscal year, amounting to 40 percent of the total glass produced. This is a great improvement from the 14 percent that was recycled when the company was launched six years ago.
“This is an achievement that puts us on par with countries like Brazil and Australia that amount to 47 percent… It will be difficult to increase this amount, this will increase once separation at source becomes a reality as prescribed by the Waste Management Act,” said Jhetam, referring to legislation obligating South Africans to separate recyclable materials from their rubbish.
The Glass Recycling Company is a non-profit organisation that funds its operations from revenue from Consol and Nampak, which in turn charge their customers a recycling levy for every unit they buy.