Projects and Partnerships

The BBC200 Project is a PRO Alliance-led initiative to integrate 80,000 waste pickers into South Africa’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system by digitising 200 buy-back centres by the end of 2026.

Using the SAWPRS platform, the project will enable:

Digital onboarding of 200 BBCs nationally Cashless service fee payments to waste pickers when working in conjunction with the transactional and cashless payment solutions Formal waste picker integration into the EPR framework Real-time reporting to PROs on materials, volumes, and payments

Parallel programmes will back-pay existing SAWPRS registrants and integrate existing individual PRO programmes onto SAWPRS, ensuring all waste pickers are registered on the national database with auditable payment records.

Reporting into the Waste Picker Integration Working Committee, a multi-stakeholder project team, which includes the waste picker organisations and PRO member representatives, meets regularly to address any challenges that may hinder project progress and to discuss initiatives to drive awareness, education and registration of waste pickers onto the system.

The BBC200 Project represents a scalable, inclusive model for future-proof EPR implementation.

Waste 360 is designed to do MORE than just meet EPR legislative requirements! It is a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach to driving waste collection and recycling, creating an inclusive waste value chain, building a circular economy, and enhancing socio-economic development in South Africa’s waste sector.

A PRO Alliance-led initiative in partnership with Enterprise Room, the Waste 360 Project is a three-year pilot initiative designed to address some of the critical gaps in South Africa’s waste management systems and the barriers to advancing a circular economy.

Waste 360 is a high-impact opportunity to champion environmental responsibility, innovation, and economic inclusion. It will not only strengthen waste management value chains and help build a circular economy, but it will also contribute to economic empowerment, small business development and job creation, aligning to South Africa’s growth and economic development imperatives.

The recently piloted Southfield project, a successful collaboration with the City of Cape Town and The Recyclers Association, created employment for 25 people and opportunities for seven small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

The project secured significant investment, with the PRO Alliance contributing over R1 million, while The Enterprise Development Partnership (EDP) and WWF SA provided additional funding for SMME integration, capacity building, and waste picker integration. The project also focused on resident engagement to drive participation levels.