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MICRO-FINANCE
A future in recycling: from street waste collector to entrepreneur
Words Special Correspondent
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oung people on parts of the African continent sometimes turn to waste management as an ad hoc or extra job to make small money when they are struggling with unemployment, but often opportunities are scarce to learn how to grow in this sector and turn it into real business. Here’s an example from South African Startupmagazine.co.ke April 2020
where supporting an entrepreneur pays off. Tshepo Mazubuko, a young person from a Johannesburg suburb, started his business from scratch to build a recycling company that is today employing 17 people and engaging over 800 waste collectors, most of them women from poor communities. “I learned business in the street. After four years of unemployment, I decided to join waste collectors,” says Mazubu-
ko. “I had to support myself and my family. At the beginning, I was making 200 to 300 rands (13 to 19 US$). It was not enough, but I knew that there was a lot of potential in what I was doing.” Starting was not easy for Mazubuko. “I was proud and happy with my first bag from the waste, but it turned out that it was full of rubbish without value,” Mazubuko confesses with a large smile on his face. “I had to learn how to differentiate between rubbish and waste to make
