It’s rubbish that business is tough for women!

Consider how many more jobs and small businesses could be created if some of the other 38 waste streams in South Africa were also dealt with along the lines that REDISA uses in the tyre industry.

Women in business are repeatedly told how tough it is for them and what challenges they face as entrepreneurs. Excuse me: how is running a business different from running a home?

Just as a business has to budget, manage its cash flow, do administration and develop human capital, so do women who run families. Women have always been in business and they have always been resourceful. It’s time to turn the idea that business is tough for women on its head.

At the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (REDISA), we believe that even poor women – especially poor women, perhaps – can become successful entrepreneurs.

Many people believe it’s impossible to escape poverty and become successful in business. It’s not. In Johannesburg a few weeks ago, the radio station Power FM interviewed a woman and her male partner whose lives have changed since they became waste tyre transporters for REDISA. They now employ seven people – and not long ago, they were unemployed themselves.

Over 70 small businesses, many of them run by women, have started up since REDISA began taking charge of the collection and recycling of waste tyres from the country’s tyre industry about 15 months ago. And the beauty of these small businesses is that they are making a living out of waste.

Making a living from waste

South Africa is littered with waste tyres that could be turned into steel and rubber crumb, which could be turned into valuable commodities that people will pay money for, like roof tiles, paving, furniture, artworks, fashion accessories and corporate gifts.

The key to turning waste into worth is to start looking at waste differently – just as we have to start looking differently at women in business, and at industries such as waste picking.

Waste pickers or reclaimers are the people – most of them women – who sift through the rubbish on South Africa’s landfills and waste dumps. They are considered the lowest of the low but they actually perform a valuable service, as do the pavement recyclers who rummage through people’s dustbins.

As a society of consumers, South Africa generates 38 different waste streams, including tyres, plastic, glass, tins, batteries, paper, light bulbs and electronic waste, to name just a few.

At this stage, the tyre industry is the only one in South Africa whose waste is being dealt with in an integrated, coordinated way. What’s more, the REDISA system is the only one in the world that has 99.9% industry compliance with one waste management plan (99.9% of tyre manufacturers and importers are registered with REDISA and pay R2.30 per kilogram to outsource their tyre recovery and recycling liability to us).

Job creation and small business development are a major part of our business plan, and our five-year target is to create 10 000 jobs and 200 business entities that collect, store and recycle waste tyres. Already, 1080 jobs have been created and 77 small businesses established, and we are collecting waste tyres from 1089 collection points countrywide.

Spotting opportunities that others can’t see

Consider how many more jobs and small businesses could be created if some of the other 38 waste streams in South Africa were also dealt with along the lines that REDISA uses in the tyre industry. Thousands and thousands of job and business opportunities are buried in the landfills and rubbish dumps of our country. Who is going to bring these opportunities to light and start turning other kinds of waste into worth?

It takes an entrepreneurial spirit to see value where others see junk. An entrepreneur is someone who sees what everyone else can’t, takes the risk and goes for it.

We would love to see more women in South Africa stepping out and taking the chance. Contrary to what we are told, business is not that hard. It takes the skills we already have from running homes, determination and the ability to pay attention to your environment and spot opportunities that others miss. There is worth in waste.

Article submitted by Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (REDISA)