Insight & Article Archive
Clean-up and Recycle Week
During Clean-up & Recycling Week (14-20 September), the PRO Alliance celebrated the individuals, communities and businesses who are all working to build a cleaner, more circular economy in our country.
Recycling starts with a few simple principles, referred to as the 5Rs:
- Refuse what you don’t need,
- Reduce what you do use,
- Reuse before you throw away,
- Repurpose instead of sending packaging material to landfill, and
- Recycle into new products.
A nod to our members — @Fibre Circle, @Metpac, @Petco, @Polyco, and @The Glass Recycling Company — all of whom are putting these principles into action every day. From formalising waste picker integration into the recycling economy to driving extended producer responsibility initiatives that keep packaging materials in circulation for longer; they are all playing their part in building a future where “waste” becomes opportunity.
Other Articles
PRO Alliance Newsletter – 2026 Issue 4
In this edition, Makgabo van Niekerk, PRO Alliance’s new Executive Director, reflects on her first few weeks in office.
In the spirit of Youth Month, we sit down with Paballo Lehapa, a 28-year-old member of the African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) and a recycler who is quietly contributing to the circular economy. His energy, perspective and ambition are exactly what this industry needs.
We then bring you a brief update on the collaboration between PRO Alliance, waste picker organisations and the Fair Circularity Initiative (FCI). The pilot has led to a much closer working relationship between waste reclaimers organisations, and the Alliance. This is another important step in the waste picker integration journey.
We conclude by taking a look at the EPR legislation. As 2027 approaches and conversations around EPR 2.0 intensify, we reflect on what the framework has achieved, the challenges that remain, and what needs to change for the next iteration to deliver on its full potential.
Download full newsletter (.PDF)
Young innovators drive South Africa’s circular economy shift
Makgabo Van Niekerk
July 2026
A few weeks after the 11th Green Youth Indaba concluded, I continue to reflect on what I saw and heard there. I left inspired by the determination, creativity and ambition of South Africa’s youg generation.
These young people are hungary for knowledge, to contribute, to be taken seriously and to be recognised as valuable contributors to their communities, the economy and the planet.
To read the full article, see here
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