Waste2Opportunity SA: Recycling & Opportunities

In Sir Lowry’s Pass village, an underprivileged township just outside Cape Town, South Africa, a small social enterprise is showing how waste can be turned into opportunity. Waste2Opportunity was founded in November 2023 by Lionel (who is physically disabled) and his friend Danzel. Their mission is to collect, sort, and sell recyclable waste in order to create jobs, cleaner spaces, and long-term environmental and social benefits for the community.

In less than a year, and without any external funding, they have already:

• Built a team of 11 staff (5 recovering substance addicts) and partnered with over 180 regular community waste collectors (90% were unemployed before).
• Collected, sorted, and sold 208,000 kgs of waste (over 4.4 tonnes every week, from plastics and metals to e-waste).
• Paid out R450,000 ($26,000) directly to waste pickers — many of whom are vulnerable individuals such as single parents, people with disabilities, or those rebuilding their lives after ad...