Building stronger businesses for inclusive recycling in Cape Town

How do you build thriving small businesses while tackling one of Cape Town’s most pressing environmental challenges – plastic pollution? This is the driving question behind the Plastic Smart Cities project, a Coca Cola Foundation-funded global initiative of WWF, now underway in Cape Town.

Bootcamp kicks off

The South African project, coordinated locally by the Economic Development Partnership (EDP), is about more than cleaner streets and waterways. This project aims to use urban waste management to create a more inclusive recycling economy that integrates the informal sector, strengthens small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), and unlocks opportunities for collaboration between government, business, and civil society.

Some of the objectives this wider project is aiming for over the next four years include:

• Reaching over 7,000 households by expanding a successful household waste collection pilot
• Integrating 100 informal waste workers into more sustainable waste collection systems by building the capacity of 16 SMMEs
• Piloting innovative funding models that ensure long-term sustainability for recycling initiatives
• Collecting and recycling more than 240 tonnes of plastic to both create sustainable livelihoods and reduce pollution at a local scale

A new kind of business support

As part of the project’s capacity-building activities, the EDP partnered with Angels Resource Centres (ARC). ARC is a rural implementation hub dedicated to small business development. Their team hosted the Enterprise4Change Bootcamp, with a focus on entrepreneurs in the waste industry sector, for members of The Recyclers’ Association who represent many of the SMMEs involved in the broader project.

Facilitator, Lizelle Coombs, welcomes participants

The Recyclers’ Association brings together SMMEs working in Cape Town’s waste sector. Individually, these businesses struggle to compete with large waste management companies. Collectively they are well positioned to offer innovative, inclusive, and socially responsible recycling services.

The three-day bootcamp combined practical business skills – from finance and compliance to investor pitching – with personal development, including leadership, communication, and problem-solving. The bootcamp is deliberately designed to be fast-paced and interactive. It blends workshops, group activities, and coaching sessions to sharpen entrepreneurial skills and build confidence.

What participants gained

The impact of the three-day bootcamp is best captured in the words of participants themselves:

• “I gained both practical tools and mindset shifts that I will immediately apply,” shared Estelle Kateregga of Greenovation Events. “The bootcamp sharpened my ability to think both strategically and sustainably. I now see myself not just as a business owner, but as a change-maker equipped to drive climate action in my industry and community.”
• Khaya Phukwana noted a shift in daily practice: “I now approach challenges with a more solution-oriented mindset. It has helped me to stay organised and make more informed decisions when it comes to budgeting and spending.”
• Caz Johnson highlighted the importance of self-understanding: “Knowing my business, knowing my story – that’s what will allow me to network, communicate and invest in my venture with passion.”

Others pointed to the value of exploring growth strategies, small business, and diversifying revenue streams. Several participants suggested that follow-up mentorship would be a valuable addition to ensure the skills gained are fully embedded in their ongoing operations. This aligns with the model Angels usually implements, where Bootcamps are followed by an intensive 6 to 18-month Waste4Change mentoring and asset-funding programme. Angels also run similar initiatives focused on Agri-development, Women, and Youth empowerment, extending support beyond training into sustainable impact.

Why this matters for local economic development

Participant, Estelle Kateregga of Greenovation Events, receives her Bootcamp certificate from facilitator Denise Dookoo

Integrating informal waste workers into formal waste management value chains ensures they can access better prices, choose their buyers, and benefit from stable income streams; this is what job creation actually looks like. Strengthening the collaboration between and integration of stakeholders into Cape Town’s waste economy means the City moves towards environmental sustainability while its residents move toward financial viability.

Private-sector funded projects like Plastic Smart Cities that give access to SMME development  initiatives like Waste4Change have deep local impact. They ensure that informal and small-scale entrepreneurs are given the skills, networks, and confidence to grow their businesses while contributing to city-wide solutions for plastic waste. The EDP’s ability to see the system and bring these stakeholders together is a critical enabler of the economic development that flow from this project.

As Ryan Fester, Programme Lead at the EDP, explains: “Cape Town’s recycling economy has many moving parts – from households and waste pickers to businesses and producer responsibility organisations. By strengthening SMMEs and creating pathways for informal workers to partner with the City and the private sector, we’re making sure the system works better for people, the economy, and the environment.”

Looking ahead

The collaboration between the EDP, Angels Resource Centres, and The Recyclers’ Association highlights what is possible when stakeholders work together to drive systemic change. This inclusive collaborative process designed by the EDP ensures that technical support is combined with personal development so that entrepreneurs can more easily integrate into the larger waste system. The long-term outcome of this work is building sustainable livelihoods while tackling the urgent challenge of reducing plastic waste to landfill.

As the Plastic Smart Cities project continues to unfold, these entrepreneurs will play a key role in shaping a recycling economy that is inclusive and sustainable. Because building a cleaner Cape Town is about unlocking opportunities that strengthen local economies.

Participant, Lelo Sirayi of CurbCycle, shares her insights

This work forms part of the EDP’s Local Economic Development Programme, which focuses on strengthening systems that contribute to a thriving, job-rich economy. From supporting SMMEs and skills development to enabling the integration of the informal economy into formal systems, the programme aims to ensure that catalytic economic growth is both inclusive and sustainable. You can learn more about the EDP’s Local Economic Development work and Angels Resource Centres’ support for entrepreneurs.

Acknowledgements:
You can also read this blog post on the Economic Development Partnership’s/Angels Resource Centres’ website here: Angels Media / EDP’s Partnering Blog

Editing: Natalie Tannous & Bev Mallows

This blog post is subject to the following disclaimer.