Green Business Journal Issue 14 - Alive2green

SEP/OCT 2014 • ISSUE 14

MINING TYRES A RECYCLING OPPORTUNITY IN THE MAKING

PLASTIC ISLANDS ALL THE PLASTIC IN THE SEA

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY

LEADERSHIP

COROBRIK’S ‘HOLISTIC APPROACH’

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH SUSTAINABILITY?

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Clay bricks contributed to the 5-star Green Building rating of KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works’s new Sisonke District Office in Ixopo (Photograph courtesy of Corobrik)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

IS MORE THAN AN R-VALUE

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lthough South Africans think of their weather as mild in comparison to countries in the northern hemisphere, in reality our macroclimate has its own unique complications when it comes to construction. Buildings in Europe focus on dealing with extreme cold – most energy costs are used in keeping warm - so double glazing, insulated walls and roofs and tight sealing of windows and doors are all critical.

Here in South Africa, winter temperatures in the Highveld approach zero at night, but the following day can easily reach 25°C. In summer, nights are hot but days are truly blistering with temperatures as high as 40°C at midday. We cannot design and build our homes and offices to keep heat inside, because for at least 6 months of the year, our biggest issue is keeping the heat out! In many countries, wall thermal resistance (R-value) is the sole determinant of energy efficiency. Because they are not designed for South African conditions, many Innovative Building Technologies (IBTs) such as lightweight walling panels cite their R-value measurement as proof of energy efficiency. However R-values have shortcomings.

Eight years of empirical study at the University of Newcastle in Australia into the thermal performance of different wall construction materials gives statistics under “real world” conditions, in a climate that is very similar to South Africa. In the study, dwellings that were constructed of different walling materials yielded a wide range of thermal comfort levels, even though they all had the same R-Values.

They were also shown to need very different energy levels for heating and cooling to maintain a feeling of comfort for inhabitants.

This study found that: • The Lightweight building (high R-value but no thermal mass in the walls) was the worst performer in all seasons.

• Brick veneer (one skin of brickwork on external walls) performed better than lightweight.

• Insulated cavity brick performed the best. Notably double skin clay brick walled modules with cavity insulation outperformed insulated lightweight walled modules with the same R-value.

• In the case of building modules with lightweight external walling, internal brick partition walls enhanced energy efficiency by 20%.

(Reference: www.thinkbrick.com.au - Energy Efficiency and the Environment, The case for Clay Brick, Edition 4) This research adds further credence to clay brick’s undisputed status as the benchmark for energy efficient house construction in South Africa. IBT’s with lightweight concrete-fibre wall panels have no capacity to self-regulate and in the South African climate this leads to

extreme discomfort akin to a “hotbox”. This forces property owners to waste money on air-conditioning – an expense that would be less necessary in a clay brick structure.

In conclusion, thermal resistance or a walls R-value is an important thermal performance property in European climates where temperatures average less than 7°C throughout long, drawn out winters. Here in South Africa, R-values are only one measurement to consider. South African buildings exposed to long hot summer months require high thermal mass to achieve both optimum warmth in winter as well as cooling in summer.

Keeping green during manufacture “We continually investigate best practices and technologies internationally, that reduce pollution and environmental impact for manufacturers,” says At Coetzee, executive director of The Clay Brick Association of South Africa (ClayBrick.org) Clay brick manufacture and building methods are considered “old fashioned” as brickmaking has been in existence since the first human settlements. However modern brick production has come a long way in the past 15 years, with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions, pollutants and waste. The Clay Brick Association of South Africa supports the use of the latest technology to maximise the productivity and energy efficiency of its members.

100% Sustainable Sustainable buildings meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Property developers and architects need to consider not only the short term costs of construction, but the long term costs in terms of impact on the environment, energy efficiency, maintenance, operation and the lifespan of the building itself.

Clay bricks are entirely natural, contain no pollutants or allergens and are resistant to ants, borer and termites. They are inert, unlike lightweight fibre cement panels that release silica dust when cut or damaged; silica dust has been linked to silicosis and other lung diseases.

Once laid, facebrick withstands fire, rain, hail and intense heat – remaining beautiful indefinitely without maintenance – no initial painting, and no ongoing repainting and replastering. Clay Bricks are also recyclable or reusable, and can be returned to the earth at their end of their useful life. Clay bricks are truly sustainable – and are trusted to create environmentally responsible living and workspaces for today’s generation and beyond.

Transmitter “Yells”

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Receiver “Listens”

Blockage

Aubrey Nxumalo, PPT (PTY) Ltd – Johannesburg Office, Building 14, Pinewood Office Park, 33 Riley Road, Woodmead 2191 Tel: +27 11 234 5299 • Cell: +27 82 569 6950 • Email: anxumalo@ppt.co.za • Web: www.ppt.co.za

EDITORIAL Partnership that builds from within

MANAGING EDITOR: Lloyd Macfarlane lloyd@gsacampbell.com

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DIVISIONAL SALES MANAGER: Annie Pieters

SALES EXECUTIVES: Lupumlo Nika Elna Willemse

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PUBLISHER: Alive2green

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Company Registration Number: 2006/206388/23 Vat Number: 4130252432 ISSN No.: 2225-5974 Issue 7 Published: Sep 2014

MINING TYRES A RECYCLING OPPORTUNITY IN THE MAKING

PLASTIC ISLANDS ALL THE PLASTIC IN THE SEA

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY

LEADERSHIP

COROBRIK’S ‘HOLISTIC APPROACH’

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The statistics that Habib was quoting point to a worrying trend that has wider implications for sustainable development in South Africa’s urban areas in particular.

Massive levels of urbanization and unemployment have set the scene for social unrest which is further contributing to a rise in crime and violence and a breakdown in the social fabric of our communities.

Cities are beginning to acknowledge that traditional approaches to informal settlements do not facilitate true sustainable development and can exacerbate dysfunction, and the symptoms thereof.

So, what must change if we are to create sustainable value for all stakeholders?

Perhaps it’s as simple as acknowledging a few key points and then working to establish an inclusive plan around some reasonable targets.

What must we acknowledge?

• That these issues are a time-bomb for South Africa and must be given priority at national government level.

• That we won’t solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions.

• That informal communities must not be viewed as the problem, but they can be viewed as part of the solution.

• That we should be building capacity inside these communities to deal with the issues of the communities.

Our cover story this issue is a report summary of Shack Dwellers International (SDI) which is essentially a network of community-based organisations representing those who live in poor urban areas in 33 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

SEP/OCT 2014 • ISSUE 14

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Violent protests due to service delivery have increased by more than 200% in the last five years, according to Professor Adam Habib, one of South Africa’s leading political commentators, who is currently speaking at various events as about “inclusive development” as part of his book launch.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH SUSTAINABILITY?

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All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any way or in any form without the prior written permission of the Publisher. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Publisher or the Editor. All editorial and advertising contributions are accepted on the understanding that the contributor either owns or has obtained all necessary copyrights and permissions. The Publisher does not endorse any claims made in the publication by or on behalf of any organisations or products. Please address any concerns in this regard to the Editor.

The Green Business Journal is printed on Hi-Q Titan plus paper, manufactured by Evergreen Hansol a leading afforestation member acknowledged by FOA. Hi-Q has Chain of Custody certification, is totally chlorine free, and is PEFC, ISO 14001, ISO 9001 accredited.

SDI believes in creating capacity in these communities by planning and partnering with local government and other key stakeholders. There is some fantastic work being done and the SDI principles should in my view be incorporated into the sustainable development plans of South Africa’s largest municipalities and cities. What do you think?

I hope you enjoy the selection of articles that we have prepared for you in this issue. We look forward to your feedback.

Sincerely

Lloyd Macfarlane

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News and updates Sustainability through the keyhole Corobrik

Supply chain sustainability Stories from around the world

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Mining Tyres

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Plastic islands

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Informal Settlements

A recycling opportunity in the making

• Build capacity in the organisation by training key employees about the principles and practices of corporate sustainability.

• Leverage differentiation in order to achieve competitive advantage.

• Develop and manage reputation by building and marketing an Online Sustainability Profile.

• Use the Framework process to develop a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Report which can be widely used in the company’s value chain.

The Good Business Framework combines an online and personal interface in order to target measurable outcomes: • Empowering key decision makers in your organisation • Identifying risks and opportunities • Marketing and media exposure www.goodbusinessframework.com/about info@gsacampbell.com

All the plastic in the sea

Opportunities for partnership and sustainability

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Aubrey Nxumalo, PPT (PTY) Ltd – Johannesburg Office, Building 14, Pinewood Office Park, 33 Riley Road, Woodmead 2191 Tel: +27 11 234 5299 • Cell: +27 82 569 6950 • Email: anxumalo@ppt.co.za • Web: www.ppt.co.za

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NEWS & UPDATES TOBACCO’S COMEBACK…AS A BIOFUEL. In an innovative attempt to cut carbon emissions, Boeing has partnered with South African Airways to reduce carbon emissions by using tobacco as a biofuel. The new fuel will be made from a hybrid tobacco plant called the Solaris and is expected to be used within the “next few years”, according to a Fox Business report. This new tobacco-based fuel will be used as an alternative to traditional unsustainable jet fuel and the production of Solaris will give tobacco farmers the opportunity to grow a crop that is nicotine free, thereby playing their part in reducing carbon emissions while still keeping

ENCOURAGING ENERGY SAVINGS FROM MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY The National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) has just released the results of resource savings in terms of water, energy and materials, that participating industry plants have recorded during the 2013/14 financial year.

According to the NCPC-SA, a record 201 assessments were conducted in industry plants, primarily in manufacturing sectors.

From these assessments, companies were given recommendations that, when implemented, will save some R 127.5 million in water and energy, with over 80% of the potential savings identified being in energy. In addition, largely through its Industrial Energy Efficiency Project (IEE Project), the Centre was able to help industry plants implement interventions that resulted in actual energy savings of 28.3 GWh, valued at over R25.8 million.

These energy savings reflect the new interventions during 2013/14. However, when these are added to the accumulated and on-going savings of the 54 industry plants that have participated in the IEE Project, the project has helped realise energy savings of 577 GWh of energy – saving participating companies around R344 million on their energy bills. The services of the NCPC-SA are highly subsidised by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), on behalf of which it supports local industry. The Centre is hosted by the CSIR and operates nationally. Assessments are conducted at no charge to qualifying companies (applications are via the NCPC-SA website www.ncpc.co.za) and implementation costs can usually be offset against realised savings in a short time period. For large capital investment, the NCPC-SA also links companies up with government incentive schemes.

For more information about the NCPC-SA and opportunities for companies to benefit, visit www.ncpc-co.za or email ncpc@csir. co.za

their source of income steady. “By using hybrid tobacco, we can leverage knowledge of tobacco growers in South Africa to grow a marketable biofuel crop without encouraging smoking,” said Ian Cruickshank, South African Airways Group Environmental Affairs Specialist. “This is another way that SAA and Boeing are driving development of sustainable biofuel while enhancing our region’s economic opportunity.” SAA also added that the use of biofuel reduced emissions by up to 80 percent compared to traditional jet fuel and that over 1500 passenger flights have already been performed using biofuels, making it a very feasible option in the years to come.

EXXARO RECEIVES INTEGRATED REPORTING PLAUDITS FROM EY South African diversified resource group, Exxaro has been placed in the top 10 at the Ernst&Young integrated reporting awards 2014. Exxaro received the EY’s recognition as company that is an ‘emerging leader’ in the area of integrated reporting. Exxaro’s executive for strategy and corporate affairs said in a statement; “Our recognition in the EY annual awards demonstrates to stakeholders that we are thinking in a manner that will address their concerns about our long-term business sustainability.” The company also said that they have made a concerted effort to ensure that their sustainability reports are not only top-class, but also succinct, easy to read and relevant to stakeholders. The company noted that through the process of reporting they have boosted their reputation seen an exponential growth in interest from stakeholders about sustainability issues and how these are being addressed within the business. “Ultimately, we believe integrated reporting has the potential to encourage investment in South Africa due to its focus on core issues, the transparency of information and its forward looking approach. These awards are essential to highlight the business performance and excellent reporting that is being done by many South African companies which enables them to effectively communicate with their stakeholders,” says Exxaro.

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NEWS & UPDATES THE ALIVE2GREEN ONLINE CONSOLIDATION Alive2green, publishers of the Green Business Journal will be consolidating certain social media platforms in August 2014.

Look out for some great content on our primary twitter handle @ Alive2Green and participate in some of our online discussions by following Alive2Green on LinkedIn. Join the community and stay abreast of the latest facts and happening in the green economy.

VODACOM OPENS MULTIMILLION-RAND GREEN ‘DATA PARK’.

Service provider Vodacom has opened a R600 million ‘Data Park’ in Midrand, Johannesburg. According to Vodacom, the enormous park was constructed to expand their hosting capacity and has been built with the company’s green philosophy in mind. The buildings are designed to maximise energy efficiency, reduce waste, optimise space and minimise overall environmental impact. While there is no specific green rating system for data centres, Vodacom followed the guidelines set out by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) and as a result, the building has a very small carbon footprint in relation to its size. The primary focus areas were waste reduction and recycling, lower energy consumption, occupant wellbeing and increased sustainability practices throughout the building and its operations.

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA ROADSHOWS These one day workshops, taking place in September, provide a sample of all six of the modules to be covered in the Postgraduate Diploma in Integrated Reporting course in 2015.

The workshops will be hosted by programme director and lead facilitator Pieter Conradie; along with other experts in the field of integrated reporting. You can find more information at web. up.ac.za under Academic Programmes.

SOUTH AFRICA IS SETTING A PRECEDENT FOR GREEN BUILDING The Top Employers Institute, a global employer certification firm which recognises excellence in working conditions, has said that it feels South Africa is setting the precedent for other companies around the African continent to adopt sustainable practices. Samantha Crous, a regional director at Top Employers institute, said that South African companies are increasingly incorporating green business practices into the way they run their businesses and, as a result, companies across the rest of the continent are able to see the benefits and are inspired to do the same. Crous added that green buildings are an “investment in the future” as they will help the environment in the long-term. According to the African Economic Outlook, Africa looks poised to register a six per cent growth in 2015, yet the continent has been slow on the uptake of sustainable means of living. The sustainability precedent set by South Africa is hoped to provide incentive to other African companies and to facilitate their growth in sustainability though the sharing of knowledge and resources.

CAPE TOWN’S R80 MILLION GREEN FACTORY A factory that makes solar photovoltaic (PV) modules opened its doors in Cape Town on the 5th of August this year. The factory, built in Epping by multinational company Jinko Solar, was constructed as a result of the government’s renewable energy programme, whereby private companies bid to build wind and solar electricity plants and then sell the electricity to Eskom. Jinko, being the fourth largest solar PV manufacturer in the world, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has more than 13 000 employees and has produced about 5.5 gigawatts of products globally. Opening the factory, Premier Helen Zille said it was a welcome investment in the Western Cape and that it would create jobs and grow the economy while also contributing to the country’s sustainability goals. The factory is the newest and most modern of its type on the continent and has already sold more than 300MW of solar panels to South African solar power companies. “The opening of Jinko’s state-of-the-art production facility in Cape Town highlights the attractiveness of South Africa as an investment destination and will contribute to establish the country as a hub for renewable energy and other green economy industries,” said Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industries.

Sustainability Through The Keyhole reducing impacts from the building and construction industry

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he building and construction industry, although essential, is typically associated with urbanisation, greenhouse gas emissions, encroachment on natural areas and the abuse of natural resources. Given that it is an ever-growing sector, the need for environmentally responsible practitioners is intensifying and the demand for organisations that are willing to be held accountable for their environmental impact has never been greater.

Corobrik Established in 1902, Corobrik is now the leading manufacturer of concrete bricks, blocks, masonry, landscaping, clay bricks and paving in South Africa. They have 28 Corobrik centres and 15 factories around the country, producing as much as 4 million products per working day. As an organisation with so much influence on building in South Africa, Corobrik’s capacity to impact the environment – either positively or negatively – is immense.

Policies and Guidelines: Realising this, Corobrik has committed to making a positive change and adopting what they call a ‘holistic approach’ to securing a sustainable future. This approach involves ensuring that sustainability is a key focus in every business activity rather than isolated as its own separate entity. To this end, Corobrik has its own sustainability and environmental management policies which they developed internally and have successfully integrated into all of the business centres.

Their sustainability policy provides a framework for sustainable operations and focuses on sustainability across social, environmental and economic platforms. The business tries to ensure that every decision made is guided by the sustainability framework, thereby building a sustainable future for the organisation as it grows.

Their environmental policy was developed to ensure that their core process, the production of heat treated clay bricks, and other related processes are conducted in an environmental friendly manner. The organisations sets about achieving this through the identification of aspects within these processes that may have an impact on the

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environment and the subsequent development of procedures and management programs to eliminate or mitigate any undesirable impacts. Both policies are effective in guiding the company’s operations and ensuring that the ethos of sustainability and environmental responsibility are integrated throughout every sector of business.

Operational Strategy: Corobrik has 9 operational strategies in place and the organisation stresses that the most central of these relate to environmental responsibility.

At operational level, Corobrik manages it’s quarrying and manufacturing processes within their own sustainable development framework. This includes social and labour plans within the framework of the new order mining rights; approved environmental management plans for each quarry and manufacturing process; the concurrent rehabilitation of all quarries during annual quarrying operations; and the final rehabilitation and re-use of worked out quarries as a nature reserve, recreational area, landfill site or commercial/ residential development. The organisation’s 15 factories also operate in accordance with the IS09001 and 14001 standards.

Energy Efficiency and Emissions Corobrik has invested a significant amount of effort into reducing their overall emissions and improving their energy efficiency. Some

COLUMN

of the most notable steps they have taken in this regard are the introduction and employment of modern continuous kiln firing technology, the use of cleaner burning fuels, cutting edge firing systems and best international manufacturing practices which optimize energy efficiencies. Corobrik also uses new extrusion technology and core hole configurations which are designed to reduce energy usage for drying and firing, as well as lighter multi core hole bricks that allow them to transport more bricks per delivery vehicle, thereby reducing overall diesel consumption and emissions.

An additional factor that makes the organisation’s sustainability journey truly exciting is the fact that their commitment to energy efficiency extends beyond their own walls and into every development that makes use of their products. This is as a result of the high thermal mass found in every Corobrik brick, which helps to moderate indoor temperatures in South African climates, thereby significantly reducing the need for artificial heating and cooling systems and lowering the country’s overall energy consumption. Corobrik’s clay bricks offer embodied energy values that are in line with international best practice for the technologies employed and with thermal performance properties to support superior thermal comfort and lowest operational energy usage.

Additionally, there are many generic factors which underpin the environmental integrity of Corobrik’s products, such as durability and longevity, reusability and recyclability, mineral properties recognised for supporting healthy living, inertness that ensures no release of VOCs and maintenance-free qualities that incur no future carbon debt.

Social Responsibility Corobrik’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme is focused on three main areas: Education and training, donations and empowerment of the previously disadvantaged.

Their education and training programme includes Corobrik training centres which equip unskilled individuals with paving, bricklaying and building skills. The organisation currently has two training centres in operation and has trained an impressive number of individuals since the centre’s inception in 1994.

Rather than making financial donations, Corobrik prefers to donate building materials and in doing so have contributed to the construction of many meaningful projects. These include buildings such as schools, crèches, facilities for the aged and physically disadvantaged and sanctuaries for orphaned children. Corobrik also actively supports SAWIC (South African Women in Construction) and has made large material donations to the development of the women’s training centre, as well as sponsoring SAWIC members’ participation in their own CETA-accredited paving course.

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SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY Stories from around the world

Edited by Christine King

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ompanies around the world are waking up to the importance of their influence over sustainability in their supply chains. This isn’t just a feel-good fad; what’s good for the environment is good for business as well.

Scotland The key to true sustainability lies in maintaining economic competitiveness and delivering sustainable growth. To this end, the Scottish Food and Drink Federation (SFDF), is working on resource efficiency with business partners and food and drink manufacturers in the Scottish Industry Advisory Group (IAG). Formed in 2013, the IAG is made up of over 20 leading food and drink companies. The group acts as a forum for identifying and prioritising the most important resource efficiency issues. Members volunteer to undertake projects, creating beacons of best practice through case studies and helping shape communication within the sector to ensure the maximum possible impact. As an example of how this works, Gordon and MacPhail, Mackies, Macphie of Glenbervie and Dean’s of Huntly took part in a joint trial to recycle plastics marginally contaminated with food residues.

Such waste would normally go straight to landfill. Their collaboration resulted in a reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill which, in turn, reduced their company waste disposal costs. The IAG works to deliver quantifiable reductions in carbon emissions, water, food and packaging waste, and transport emissions at the manufacturing level. Published at the end of last year, the FDF’s latest report shows that members have achieved significant reductions across all of these areas including a 32% reduction in CO² emissions compared to the 1990 baseline, and the reduction of food and packaging sent to landfill to just 3% of total waste. FDF members are also reducing waste elsewhere in the supply chain. For example, the FDF is a founding partner of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). This initiative aims to demonstrate to consumers how better use of packaging – and the information it carries – can help them dramatically reduce the amount of

food they throw away, saving them money and helping the environment. Later this year, WRAP will be publishing an online tool, with the support of the FDF, to help food and drink businesses assess raw material risks and opportunities. This will be expanded to encompass a wide range of raw materials and sourcing locations.

Ireland Food provenance refers to the knowledge of where your food is sourced from. For Northern Ireland’s £1 billion-a-year agri-food sector, food provenance is crucial, particularly in light of recent scares such as the horse meat scandal. The Agri-Food Strategy Board believes Northern Ireland has the potential to grow its agri-food sector to a £7 billion-a-year industry by 2020. According to the board, it could achieve this by developing a “single and resilient supply chain”. But the local agri-food industry also has to embrace innovative ideas, such as the “world’s first prosperity agreement”, which was signed in Northern Ireland last week. This is a new initiative from Northern Ireland’s Department of the Environment that, according to

Minister of the Environment Mark H Durkan, aims to transform environment issues from “barriers to business into economic opportunities”. Durkan has given the Northern Ireland Environment Agency the go-ahead to come up with ways to reduce red tape for companies that want to invest “heavily in the environment”. He says the aim is to help businesses identify opportunities for growth that reduce their reliance on “finite resources”, and he believes a better environment means a stronger economy. Last week Durkan signed the prosperity agreement between the Department of the Environment and Tyrone agri-food firms Linden Foods and Linergy. As part of the deal, the two companies have agreed to reduce their carbon emissions by 25% and invest in their supply chain by improving farm sustainability and finished-product logistics.

Indonesia and Papua New Guinea PZ Cussons, the company behind high profile cleaning brands such as Imperial Leather, Carex, Charles Worthington hair products and Original Source shower gels, has become the latest consumer giant to pledge

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to end deforestation in its supply chain.

On the 18th of August 2014, PZ Cussons unveiled the PZ Palm Oil promise which commits it to eliminating deforestation from the supply chain it uses to produce its wide range of home, beauty, and food products.

The production of palm oil in developing economies such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea is widely blamed for driving deforestation, taking over agricultural space otherwise used for food crops, contributing to habitat loss for tigers and orangutans, and the creation of monocultures that reduce biodiversity. As a result, pressure has been mounting on consumer-facing companies to commit to only purchasing palm oil from suppliers that produce the crop in line with independent sustainability standards. For example, internationally agreed standards commit sustainably certified producers to banning controversial practices such as slash-and-burn and ensuring a fully traceable supply chain. During the past 18 months a number of leading brands have followed in the footsteps of consumer goods giant Unilever, by committing to the phasing out of deforestation from their supply chain.

Danone, Johnson & Johnson, and Mars have all made high profile commitments, and they were joined recently by Proctor & Gamble, which pledged to tackle deforestation after a concerted campaign from Greenpeace over the track record of its supply chain. Now PZ Cussons has said it will work with The Forest Trust (TFT) to design a route map for meeting its new goals, both independently and through joint ventures with palm oil giant Wilmar in Nigeria and Ghana. The company expects to be able to “define its approach and priorities” by the end of this year. “TFT has a strong record of delivery in really understanding the palm oil landscape and helping companies and their suppliers to drive transformation, which for us is ultimately about knowing that all of the palm oil we buy was sourced with respect for people and the environment”, said Eileen Donnelly, PZ Cussons’ director of sustainability and communications, in a statement.

The news is likely to be welcomed by campaign groups, such as Greenpeace, as another step towards phasing out deforestation. Deforestation may still be one of the biggest environmental challenges the world faces, but as the past few days have shown growing numbers of businesses are demonstrating innovative new approaches for tackling the problem.

USA Cereal giant, Kellogg has announced that it will step up efforts to reduce planet-warming emissions in its supply chain as part of a broader initiative designed to be more

environmentally friendly. Under the plan, the Michigan-based food products manufacturer will require key suppliers such as farms and mills to measure and publicly disclose their greenhouse gas outputs and targets for reducing them. They will also be providing education to these key suppliers to help them increase their resilience to climate change through fertilizer, water and soil management. The company said it will report annually on greenhouse gas emissions and include climate and deforestation policies in the company’s code of conduct for suppliers. Diane Holdorf, Chief Sustainability Officer, said: “Kellogg will strengthen cutback requirements for its own plants, building on a 2008 pledge to reduce emissions by 15% to 20%. “Not only is it what our customers and stakeholders expect of us... but we want to hold ourselves accountable.” It also pledged to join Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, a coalition that supports legislation that favours cleaner energy and a low-carbon economy. The announcement drew praise from Oxfam International, a group pushing the food and beverage industry to reduce carbon emissions. “Climate change is putting hundreds of millions of people at risk of hunger and threatening everything from coffee and cereal to wine and chocolate,” spokeswoman Monique van Zijl said.

“Kellogg is joining a growing list of companies that are putting the weight of their brands behind climate action.” In addition to the measures on climate, the cereal maker announced a series of green performance goals to reach by 2020 that include a 50% increase in use of low-carbon energy and establishing water-reuse projects in 25% of its plants. Kellogg will boost to 30% the number of plants sending no waste to landfills and use more efficient packaging, with all timber-based packaging materials being recycled or coming from sources certified as sustainable.

environmental management.” According to Mr Kodde, “a successful value chain is one that creates value from farm to fork; it is about efficiency in the supply chain.” In order to identify these needs, Syngenta makes use of consumer surveys. “In the one conducted two years ago, which reached 1,800 vegetable consumers, we found that 10% of them could be considered “adventurous eaters”; these are the ones who will buy new products and show them to their friends,” explains Martin. Meanwhile, 33% fell under “value for money eaters”, the most conservative ones; “convenience eaters”, those who spend little time preparing food, reached 25%; lastly, “involved eaters”, for whom sustainability is the key and regularly buy organic products, accounted for 32%.” When it comes to the growers’ side, sustainability has become the key issue; aspects such as ethical production, food safety, water and soil management and the reduction of waste to ensure a good future for the coming generations, while keeping an eye on the financial side. “To help growers in this, we have developed practical tools that assist them in the implementation of sustainable practices, such as the Operation Pollinator, an international biodiversity program designed to boost the number of pollinating insects on commercial farms by creating specific habitats, tailored to local conditions and native insects, which has already resulted in increased productivity,” assures Mr Kodde. “In Europe, we have also developed operational farms where we show how sustainability works by showcasing, among other things, how beneficials and biological control work and we also have residue management programmes in place.

All serves to meet Syngenta’s goal, which is to ensure our growers are able to meet all private standards while minimising risks in the food chain.”

References

• http://www.scotsman.com/news/

South Africa Held in Pretoria, from the 13th to 14th August 2014, the PMA Fresh Connections: Southern Africa Conference and Expo allows the fresh produce supply chain to share ideas about the future of farming and sustainability. Martin Kodde, head of Food Chain Engagement at Syngenta, outlined how his company is working to understand the concerns of its customers. “The first challenge is compliance with the regulations, as both import and export companies expect high standards...; secondly, profitability, as we have to ensure that everyone involved in the production chain obtains its share; lastly, sustainability, which is all about efficiency in resource and

love-food-and-drink-but-hate-the-waste-businesses-andconsumers-develop-a-taste-for-sustainability-1-3521687 • http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/ agribusiness-and-food/prosperity-deal-a-taste-of-thingsto-come-for-north-s-agri-food-business-1.1907673 • http://www.freshplaza.com/article/125601/Sustainabilityis-one-of-the-key-issues-to-vegetable-growers • http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/analysis/2360872/ carex-producer-pledges-to-clean-up-palm-oil-supply-chain • http://www.supplychaindigital.com/ supplychainmanagement/3574/ Kellogg-Aims-for-Green-Supply-Chain • http://newsroom.kelloggcompany. com/2014-08-13-Kellogg-Company-Announces-New-Responsible-Sourcing-Commitments-And-Renews-Conservation-Goals • www.freshplaza.com

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Mining Tyres A recycling opportunity in the making.

Author Sonia Morales R

Tyre waste is a massive environmental quandary. It is difficult to manage effectively and has an impact on human health.

The Off the Road (OTR) tyres that are used in the mining industry add thousands of tons to this waste problem.

Initiatives have been implemented around the globe to address the issue. However, thus far an effective sustainable initiative for the OTR tyres has not been executed. Currently, the legislative environment in South Africa together with the available technologies that exist in the world, both point to a potentially sustainable solution.

According to the Basel Convention (UNEP, 1999) a scrap tyre is considered hazardous material because it contains about 1.5% by weight of hazardous substances. Scrap tyres are also considered harmful waste because they are ideal sources of mosquito infestations, leach toxic substances into the soil and can cause fires that are very difficult to control.

This in turn creates high levels of air pollution.

Scrap tyres are a huge component of solid waste that is increasing every year around the globe. The composition of

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tyres makes them non-biodegradable and difficult to recycle. When discarded they are often stockpiled in waste dumps and at illegal dumping sites. For many years, several countries have implemented different initiatives to deal with this environmental problem. However, they have only focused their attention on road tyres such as truck, car, passenger and agricultural tyres. These initiatives do not deal with Off the Road (OTR) tyres commonly used in open pit mines.

Some of the world’s largest mining companies have attempted to implement different initiatives to deal with the problem of scrap tyres. However, implementation often failed or the projects merely dealt with stockpiles on a small scale. The mining companies also concluded that solutions were not sustainable or were highly expensive to carry out.

According to the DEA (Department of Environmental Affairs) in South Africa, “approximately 11 million tyres per year are currently sold locally. All these tyres (except the exported) will become waste tyres. The estimated mass of the tyres sold (and which in turn will become waste) is 275000 tons”.

It is estimated that at least 10% of the total amount of scrap tyres are OTR tyres. This translates into approximately 27500 tons per year. As inconceivable as this amount may seem, this calculation does not take into account the historical stockpiles lying around at mine sites. In a country like South Africa, with decades of mining history, we can just imagine the number of scrap tyres piling up over the years.

OTR tyres have not been a priority in recycling initiatives worldwide as these tyres require specific and intricate considerations in order to be recycled. This makes the recycling process difficult to execute, time-consuming and financially unfeasible.

As a result, OTR tyres are a massive environmental threat that will persist in South Africa, and around the world, if they are not dealt with accordingly.

Some of the factors to consider when recycling mining OTR tyres are:

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• Their huge size: these tyres have diameters of up to four meters, and weigh on average four tons. Hence, they are called giant tyres.

• Geographic locations and transport: the mines are usually located in remote areas and, as a result, the transportation of these tyres is costly. The transport cost increases depending on the tyre size and weight. Special trucks are also required to transport the tyres and these trucks only carry four tyres at a time. Two ways to reduce the transport costs are to downsize the OTRs before transporting them and to locate the recycling facility closer to the mine site.

• Their hard structure: each tyre is reinforced with two large beads of steel. A bead is a bundle of high tensile steel wire that anchors the tyre to the rim. Some tyres could even have several bundles of these beads. The protective rubber cover on the side of a tyre is a three dimension rubber and is made to resist heavy work.

These tyres are designed to be almost indestructible.

• Downsizing: with regards to cutters, there are only a few options that have been tried and tested to effectively cut down the size of OTR tyres.

• Processing: there are currently no existing recycling plants (rubber crumbs, pyrolysis, etc) that can deal with an entire OTR tyre. The equipment available is mostly designed to process pieces of tyres or smaller types of tyres. Downsizing is therefore required before the tyres can be processed. In addition, not all kinds of tyre-recycling equipment can successfully deal with the hard structure of giant tyres. Only specialised equipment (e.g. shredders for hard structure tyres) can be used in order to guarantee that the strong structure is effectively processed.

• Safety and environment: mining companies have specific internal and international safety and environmental regulations to comply with. For this reason, retreading the OTR tyres is not an option as there are safety issues to

consider. To recycle this waste the big mining corporations should review the quality of the processing procedure to ensure that no further waste or pollution is caused. Some poor-quality pyrolysis plants emit air pollution and produce char instead of carbon black. As char is not a marketable product it will typically be discarded. In this process, waste is produced that could cause more damage to the environment than simply stockpiling the scrap tyres.

There are millions of tyres in dumps around the world, but progress is being made to deal with the problem. Countries like the USA, Canada, Japan and some European countries have some good strategies that have been in place for years. However, the main focus of their initiatives has been on the small sized tyres and not on the giant sizes.

The South African Waste Information Centre (SAWIC) reported a figure of just 1,915.5 tons of tyre waste being recycled in 2013. This is a mere 1% of the waste being processed. This figure, although not yet updated by the SAWIC for 2014, is known to have been improving in the past year due to the implementation of related Acts to address the environmental problem. Some of these Acts include: • Environment conservation Act 1969.

Waste tyre regulations, 2008. 13 Feb 2009.

• National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008. National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS). 4 May 2012.

• National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008. Notice of approval of an integrated industry waste tyre management plan of the recycling and economic development initiative of South Africa (REDISA). 30 November 2012.

• National Environmental Management: Waste Amendment Act, 2014.

The 30th November 2012 Act provided a structured, five year plan to establish a

comprehensive value chain to deal with the tyre waste problem in South Africa. The plan includes all kinds of scrap tyres as well as the OTR tyres. The November 2012 Act is already underway and, eventually with the successful achievement of their objectives, South Africa should be among the top countries in the world for recycling tyres.

This “integrated industry waste tyre management plan” must comply with the waste management charge provisions and procedures outlined in the latest act published in June 2014 (National Environmental Management: Waste Amendment Act, 2014). Therefore, changes in the way this program is to be implemented are expected in the near future.

Recycling Technologies The main purpose of recycling is to maximise resource recovery. OTR tyres are on average 30% steel and the rest is made up of rubber and other components. This makes them a fount for a significant number of resources that can be used as raw material in different industrial processes.

There are several different ways of recycling tyres: • Downsizing and de-beading: although this is one of the major challenges, the USA offers some great technological advances which involve downsizing the giant tyres in different steps. The process includes de-beading and cutting the tyre in order to get it into small, manageable pieces.

The steel inside the rubber of the tyres, which is separated during the recycling process, can be sold as is. There is always a market for it.

• Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF): a potential use for waste tyres is as a fuel in industrial processes. The fuel can be used in cement kilns, electric utility boilers, pulp and paper mills and industrial boilers.

• Tyres should be chipped by a shredder prior to burning in cement kilns.

• Civil Engineering Applications: scrap tyres can be used as a drainage medium and/or as daily waste covers, replacing gravel or

soil. They can be used as protective barriers along roads and to protect sloping waterfront banks and roadsides. The tyres can also be used as fenders for boats.

In the mining industry the OTR tyres are used in their original form as demarcations on the roads inside mine sites.

• Mechanical Grinding: tyres are passed through a shredder, which breaks the tyres into chips. These chips can then go into a granulator, which breaks them into smaller pieces. This process also separates the steel from the rubber. The scrap steel can be sold as it is.

The chipping or grinding of waste tyres creates rubber granulates which can be used in the production of new materials such as: tiles, adhesives, asphalt, artificial play grounds, mats, water-proofing, flooring and sports surfaces.

• Pyrolysis: this process involves the thermal decomposition of the tyres in the absence of oxygen. This results in the following products: hydrocarbon fuels, petrochemical feedstocks, carbon black, steel and gas.

The carbon black is used by paint and ink manufacturers and tyre manufacturers. The fuel can be used in different industries which will vary depending on its quality. The scrap steel can be sold as it is.

South Africa has a favourable environment in which to carry out a sustainable, valuable and green system to deal with OTR scrap tyres. Different approaches can be adapted to execute a viable plan to deal with this environmental quandary.

By understanding the specific requirements for recycling OTR tyres and reaching out to the correct providers of state-ofthe-art equipment, the mining industry could finally come up with a solution to the ever-growing stock piles of this waste.

It is then just a matter of mustering the courage and using the best technology available to implement a responsible and sustainable solution that benefits the environment as much as our society.

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GAUTRAIN Not just a train but a symbol of sustainable development in both transport and the environment

Sustainability and city rejuvenation are amongst the key objectives of the Gautrain Project. Gautrain is committed to Sustainable Development and its commitment is not only critical to environmental protection and social upliftment, but calls for an integrated approach, which considers the inter-relationship between transport, the environment, the economy and society as a whole.

The project complements and supplements other public transport modes in Gauteng, allowing citizens a safe, efficient and reliable solution. Gautrain goes even further, by attempting to be sufficiently attractive with convenient travel times and improved safety and security, in order to serve people who would otherwise select private transport.

Gautrain Management Agency CEO, Jack van der Merwe explains that “Gautrain fosters a sense of community. People travelling together are more likely to feel a community connection, by sharing information and being sociable than those travelling in cars in isolation�.

Urban space is a limited resource impacting quality of life for all those living and working in a city. Efficient land use, to which public transport such as Gautrain contributes, produces results far beyond the immediate benefit of increased use of public transport. It has the potential to significantly change the way we live and travel, reducing our individual carbon footprints while preserving and enhancing our mobility.

It further encourages people to have a more active healthy lifestyle, particularly if they are walking or cycling to their stations.

The Centre for Transport Excellence has compared the use of rail transport with that of road-based transport. Public transport produces, on average, per passenger kilometre, 95% less carbon monoxide (CO), 92% fewer volatile organic compounds, 45% less CO2 and 48% less nitrogen oxide (NO).

Considering that the traffic volumes are still escalating by approximately 7% per year in the corridor between Johannesburg and Pretoria in Tshwane, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from road-based vehicles will increasingly contribute to global warming. And, as the influx of people to Gauteng intensifies, pollution caused by road-based vehicles will also increase.

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ADVERTORIAL Carbon emissions from Gautrain are considerably lower per passenger transported, than for private vehicles, notwithstanding the higher speeds and even when there are no major traffic incidents. Energy use by rail is three to five times more efficient than cars per person kilometre based on full capacity. Travelling with Gautrain reduces contribution to climate change.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) every year more people die from the effects of road traffic-related air pollution. Private cars are the main cause of urban air pollution from transport.

The risk from dying from road traffic accidents is extremely high in South Africa. The latest available statistics from the Arrive Alive campaign (Road Traffic Report of March 2008) shows that there are approximately 15 000 road traffic fatalities each year. This, in turn, has negative environmental effects. In addition, highly congested roads increase noise disturbances and have negative effects on our living space.

Gautrain brings economic benefits in that efficient public transport and lower road traffic congestion increase productivity and the economic viability in Gauteng and it decreases the out of pocket cost of transport to the community. In addition to reducing costs caused by congestion, public transport creates jobs and supports local economies. According to a study by The American Public Transportation Association, for every R80 million invested in capital projects for public transport, more than 300 jobs are created with a R240 million gain in business. In Europe, public transport creates two to three times more employment opportunities per passenger kilometre than private transport (Ticket to the Future, UITP, 2009).

Investment in public transport can be expensive, but the benefits are much greater and projects like the Gautrain help towards achieving long-term economic sustainability. These secondary factors enhancing the economy include: Gautrain, in addition to its low visual and noise impacts, assists by lessening our dependence in imported fuel and oil. With our cars having an average occupancy level of 1,2 persons per car, with cars weighing more than 1000kg on average, the energy saving is obvious.

In conclusion Gautrain is a sustainable transport system, which increases mobility in Gauteng. In short, Gautrain facilitates sustainable growth and liveable cities.

All the plastic in the sea The fact that much of the plastic waste humanity dumps into the world’s oceans tends to accumulate in five large floating islands of garbage(two in the Atlantic and Pacific each, and one in the Indian Ocean) is common knowledge these days.

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T Author Andreas Wilson-Späth

hese huge vortices act as conveyor belts that accumulate the floating bits of plastic released from the continents, but exactly what happens to the plastic in them over long time periods is less well understood.

Now a new study evaluating data from an around-the-world cruise, several regional surveys and additional recent investigations has shed some light on the issue.

The researchers confirmed that the distribution pattern of floating plastic debris on the open ocean agrees with expectations, being concentrated mostly in the five known garbage patches – there is one to the east and one to the west of our own South African shoreline.

According to lead author Andrés Cózar of the University of Cádiz in Spain, “some illustrations of the plastic garbage patches in the media have not been accurate. They are enormous areas (millions of square kilometers) with dispersed but ubiquitous small plastic fragments, mainly in the order of millimeters and centimeters in size. Surface plastic concentrations in these regions are in the order of kilograms (or millions of fragments) per square kilometer”.

Cózar and his collaborators were surprised by the quantity of plastic they found. They estimate that there are currently between 7 000 and 35 000 tons of plastic floating in the worlds open oceans. But that’s much less – in the order of 100 times less – than what they expected.

Since the 1970s somewhere in the region of 100 000 tons of plastic have been released into open ocean surface waters, making for tens of thousands of tones of unaccounted for plastic. Where has it all gone?

“An unknown mechanism is removing plastic from the surface water at a fast rate,” says Cózar, ”and a large amount of plastic could be being transferred to the food chain and the ocean interior”.

We know that bits of plastic floating in the sea get broken down into ever smaller fragments as a result of exposure to sunlight and waves, but they don’t just disappear. In fact, they can last for hundreds of thousands of years.

The authors of the study believe that one possibility is that much of the plastic ends up fragmented into tiny micrometer scale particles which are not collected by conventional sampling nets and therefore remain practically invisible. Other explanations include a slow sinking of tiny plastic particles into the deeper reaches of the ocean and widespread ingestion by marine organisms, especially zooplankton and small species of fish.

The bottom line is that we really don’t know exactly what happens to a very large portion of the plastic rubbish we’re dumping into the sea (which, by the way, amounts to only about 0.1% of the annual global plastic production). There is growing evidence, however, that considerable quantities of it make their way into the marine food chain and that its ultimate destination may very well be your dinner plate.

“Marine plastic pollution has reached a planetary scale within only two to three human generations of using plastic materials,” explains Cózar. “We still don’t really know the consequences that this pollution is having on our oceans, but the effects will occur on a global scale. There are enough signs to suggest that plankton eaters, such as small fishes, are important conduits for plastic pollution and associated contaminants. If this assumption is confirmed, the impacts of sustained plastic pollution could extend to ocean predators on a large scale”.

The solution is really quite simple: let’s cut down on the vast quantities of plastic we produce, buy, use and throw away every day.

Cózar believes “that we need to tackle the problem at source. The amount of persistent plastic materials discarded globally is huge, and the global production of plastic will likely continue to increase in the coming decades. Plastic materials are key, and almost necessary, for human development in medicine, science, conservation and just about anything else, but we need to change the ways in which they are designed and used in order to improve the efficiency of usage and the recovery of plastic resources”.

- Andreas is a freelance writer with a PhD in geochemistry. Follow him on Twitter:@Andreas_Spath. This article first appeared on www.news24.com

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Informal Settlements – the Sustainable Approach

Author Stephanie von der Heyde

R

oughly one in seven of the world’s population live in informal settlements in urban areas around the world. This number is even greater in South Africa, where approximately 54% of the population live in informal settlements. In almost all instances across Africa and, indeed, the world, governments struggle to deal with the issues created by settlements and those that live in them therefore tend to have very little in the way of infrastructure, provisions and services, including schools, water and electricity. This becomes even more problematic as populations grow, the result typically being that overwhelmed governments turn a blind eye, which in turn creates conflicts, protests and public disputes.

The illusive solution to these problems has been the cause of sleepless nights for strategists and city planners for decades and while many strategies have been implemented by governments in the past, the general feeling is that in order to help the poor, the poor have to be willing to help themselves. Enter Shack Dwellers International (SDI). SDI is essentially a network of community-based organizations representing those who live in poor urban areas in 33 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These organisations not only represent those who live in informal

settlements, but also strive to help them improve their situation through projects and ventures which create value within their home country. The role of SDI is to liaise with governments and to bring about change, not by confrontation or presenting of demands, but by offering their resources and capacities and by asking to work in partnership with local governments.

to contribute to the creation of “pro-poor” cities and address the exclusion of the poor from economies and political structures. In addition, SDI uses its global reach to build a platform for the poor to engage directly with governments and international organizations, to try new strategies, develop policies, and create a better understanding of the challenges of urban development.

Helping communities to help themselves The SDI was launched in 1996 when small unions of ‘shack dwellers’ in poor in countries such as India and South Africa agreed that a global platform could help their local initiatives develop. Sixteen years on, the SDI has had great successes locally, and is continuing to grow in both size and influence.

According to the organisation’s manifesto the SDI’s mission is to link poor urban communities from cities that have developed successful mobilisation, advocacy, and problem solving plans. Their strategy is to change the perceptions of local governments and other organisations from seeing settlements as problems that the city is unable to deal with, to viewing them as partners who, if provided with the right resources, are willing and able to help themselves. As SDI is focused on the localized needs of those who live in informal settlements, it is able

Empowerment at the local level The SDI believes in order to achieve scale in urban development policy one must begin at the individual settlement level. When local authorities engage with informal settlement communities, residents are motivated to become active partners in improving their situation and, once involved in the process of upgrading, they are able to ensure that it is sustainable and continues to grow over time. The SDI approaches this outcome with a strategy that includes six main divisions: slum upgrading, exchanges and learning, saving, enumerations and mapping, partnerships and women.

The ‘slum upgrading’ strategy involves empowering poor communities with the tools to improve their own built environment. One of the first issues approached in this regard is the building of proper ablutions in informal settlement areas. The SDI affiliates pioneered a people-driven approach to

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water and sanitation, building desperately needed toilets using community capacity and working in partnership with local authorities to get it done. Thus far, groups in India, Cambodia, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda have made deals with local authorities to design, construct and maintain toilet blocks. This serves a dual purpose of providing shack dwellers with opportunities to learn, while also assisting government in the completion of a project which may otherwise have been neglected. In addition, community built and managed toilets significantly improve the health and environment of the settlements, and according to SDI interviews with involved persons, have instilled a sense of pride and confidence in communities.

Learning from one another The SDI approaches exchanges and learning through what they call a ‘horizontal approach’. They say that through past experience they have found that learning works best when residents are allowed to teach and learn from one another; an opportunity which becomes available as a result of the joining of informal settlements worldwide through the SDI. Learning from one another helps the poor to develop a collective vision, as well as building confidence and helping individuals to see themselves and their peers as valuable. These knowledge sharing initiatives link both national and international branches of the SDI and as ideas travel from Khayelitsha to Greenpoint or Nairobi to Colombo, the network is strengthened.

In this way, locally relevant ideas get transferred into the global network through dialogue amongst residents. The pool of knowledge created by the knowledge exchange programmes becomes an SDI asset and when shack dwellers meet with external actors to debate development policies, they can then use international examples, forcing government and other stakeholders to take note.

Personal Saving The SDI also strives to create ‘savings groups’, which are created at the street and community levels in informal settlements.

These groups encourage residents to start their own collective saving funds, which are then contributed to by the SDI’s international fund. From a developmental perspective, the SDI believes the benefits that come with savings are the cohesion, understanding, trust and confidence that is generated and that the discipline and systems required for savings groups is the vehicle through which communities can manage and implement projects as well as the way in which communities accumulate their own wealth.

The importance of data The enumeration and mapping strategy creates a detailed socio-economic profile of the relevant settlement. This is done because when communities have access to this information, they are able to gain a better understanding of the group they are a part of and are better able to grasp what is needed in terms of planning their development. SDI federations work with whole communities to count households, map settlements, and survey at the household level to develop a detailed socio-economic profile of the settlement. Activities like enumeration and mapping create the opportunity for communities to identify developmental priorities and organise leadership.

Woman as decision makers For the SDI the involvement of women is crucial to their strategy as the equal participation of women leads to a growing sense of equality among poor communities. The SDI believes that women are vital to the growth and development of every informal settlement and the breaking down of inequalities among residents is crucial to progress within communities. For this reason the SDI appoints women to handle the savings systems — meaning that they are in charge of the precious savings of their neighbours and friends — thereby making communities aware of the potential of women as public decision-makers and powerful agents of change. In fact, according to the SDI, savings and credit activities, apart from their clear financial benefits, serve as a means to bring women out of the home and into the public sphere in a manner which is not resented by men.

Through these six avenues the SDI has had great success and as a result is able to spread its roots throughout poor communities across the globe. As the SDI continues to grow, poor populations and their governments increasingly begin to view each other as partners rather than as adversaries and significant change is then achieved through collaboration. Poverty and urban growth presents a massive challenge to governments and ordinary people alike. Through organisations such as the SDI and through the projects they initiate, these challenges become more manageable and the solutions more sustainable.

Reference: Edited from a working paper: Tools for Inclusive Cities - The Roles of CommunityBased Engagement and Monitoring in Reducing Poverty (Celine d’Cruz, Sonia Fadrigo Cadornigara and David Satterthwaite)

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