Waste is a symptom of a consumerist, linear economic system that thrives on extracting natural resources to create more stuff than is necessary. As a remedy, the circular economy is widely viewed as a pathway towards a more sustainable future. Recycling of materials is one of the characteristics of a circular system, as it reduces demand for virgin materials, resource exploitation and environmental pollution. Globally there are grassroot upcycling initiatives that are reframing waste and giving plastic and textile waste new life.

To bring this conversation home, we have interviewed three upcycling initiatives – in the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape – that rethink waste in ways that improve social and environmental ecosystems.

mat.

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“The huge amounts of fabric – clothes, offcuts, household linen – that is wasted has always upset me.  This set me on a quest to find cool and useful things to do with this waste, in addition to wearing and selling secondhand clothes,” says Celdri de Wet, founder of mat.

During online meetings in the lockdowns, Celdri had found herself plaiting pieces of scrap fabric from around her house into long pieces of braided yarn. Her kids suggested she make a carpet with it. “I borrowed a friend’s loom – and started weaving in the simplest way,” says Celdri.

In 2021 while researching places to spend a four-week sabbatical, Celdri – a town planner and urban designer by trade – came across the Roman Medina Acre Foundation in rural Onseepkans, Northern Cape. In search of something out of her comfort zone, Celdri signed up as a volunteer.

With a love for gardening, Celdri initially imagined herself working in the foundation’s vegetable gardens. But as an afterthought, she packed the loom and a big bag of clothes from her thrifting business – Celdress – that hadn’t sold.

“Only when I arrived in Onseepkans did I fully understand the reality of the environment, lack of material, and the needs of the community.” When asking around about people who were available and enjoyed handiwork, she was referred to a group of local Nama people who she began to work with to make carpets.

“The benefits of the creative process that I believe in, convinced me to stay away from the gardens and rather guide some people to make carpets.  The most important thing you need is time – and there is an abundance of time available in Onseepkans,” explains Celdri. The colour combinations and the ways of working are all decided on by the people who make the carpets. The current group consists of seven members.

Their slogan is “repurposed. recreated. reimagined.” – and that’s exactly what they do. “The sense of purpose, pride, and belonging that the project gives to the group, makes all the difference. They are respected in the community because they are making something beautiful – from ‘nothing’ and they have mastered a new skill and earning a little income,” says Celdri.

• Location: Onseepkans, Northern Cape
• Upcycling materials: All the materials used to produce the mat. creations are repurposed. The material selection includes cut-offs from old garments and homeware linens, as well as agricultural waste products such as bale rope. All material and waste fabric used in the carpets are donated.
• Learn more about mat. here.

 

Re.Bag.Re.Use

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Another lockdown passion project, Re.Bag.Re.Use was born from Regine le Roux’s childhood love for crocheting. “During the pandemic on one of my morning runs, I saw plastic bag lying on the side of the road and decided to experiment with it,” says Regine. The experimenting began and eventually, Regine started crocheting bags from old plastic bread bags.

What started as a hobby has turned into an income generation project after Regine connected with women in the nearby Hangberg community in Hout Bay. Now Re.Bag.Re.Use works with five women who cut plastic and ten who crochet.

“There was a time when I wondered whether this project was worth pursuing. But then I chatted to someone in our team who told me that she no longer needs to borrow money from family. She said that the money she received from the bags, on that particular day, helped her buy data for her granddaughter so she could apply to a nursing college,” says Regine.

A lot of the soft plastic waste is donated by citizens across Cape Town. It takes approximately 30 to 50 empty bread bags to make a bag that is 35 x 30 cm in size.

The focus is both environmental and social. Aside from ridding natural environments of plastic waste, the purpose of Re.Bag.Re.Use is to give people the dignity to supplement their income and buy essentials for their families. This is done by either collecting plastic bags in return for a stipend, cutting soft plastic into bundles of strips or crocheting these strips into unique products.

When asked about her dreams for the future of ReBag.Re.Use, Regine says, “The goal is to set up similar upcycling hubs across communities in South Africa and ultimately, Africa. Each Re.Bag.Re.Use product is both functional and beautiful. We have a lot of talented people in our communities, and, we have a lot of plastic – it’s a combination that is proving to work well.”

• Location: Cape Town, Western Cape
• Upcycling materials: Soft plastic waste from items such as empty bread bags, fruit and vegetable bags, 2-litre milk labels, VHS video and cassette tapes, frozen food bags, black bin bags, courier bags, shopping bags, and toilet roll plastic wrapping.
• Learn more about Re.Bag.Re.Use here.

 

Nolusizo Weavers

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Nolusizo Weavers is a group of ten women from Wesley Village, Eastern Cape, who hand weave beautiful mohair carpets from mohair factory waste.

The Weavers Project is part of Nceduluntu Wesley Community Project. A non-profit organisation that facilitates community-driven socio-economic development in the Wesley Village in Eastern Cape. The women who make up Nolusizo Weavers were hand-weaving mohair carpets before the NPO was founded.

“The women were all previously employed at Kei Carpets, a large carpet-making factory in the former Ciskei.  The factory closed in the early 1980s.  Some of the women were assisted by the founder donor of Nceduluntu to start hand weaving mohair carpets on locally made wooden looms,” says Colette Tilley Project Manager of Nceduluntu Wesley Community Project.

The weavers work for themselves to support their families in an area where there is almost no formal employment. Weavers take home approximately 80% of the sale price of a carpet, while the other 20% is retained to purchase materials, pay couriers, and participate in trade shows and exhibitions.

Each carpet is unique and designed by the weavers. Designs are determined by the amounts and colours of the mohair offcuts that are available at any given time which depends on what is being made at the factory at any given time.

• Location: Wesley Village, Eastern Cape
• Upcycling materials: Recycled mohair off-cuts obtained from one of the largest mohair fabric producers in the world – based in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape.
• Learn more about Nolusizo Weavers here.