5-Year Project to Advance Africa’s Circular Economy Begins
The National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have partnered to launch a project aimed at advancing Africa’s circular economy in the textile and garment sector.
Funded by the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), the five-year project focuses on addressing the sustainable management of chemical use and waste generated by the textile industry in several African countries.
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The venture, dubbed the “promotion of circular economy in the textile and garment sector,” seeks to stimulate the concept of a circular economy in Lesotho, Madagascar and South Africa through a “value chain approach” that tackles the sector’s “upstream” (resource use as well as green and sustainable chemistry) and “downstream” (reuse, recycling and conversion of textile waste into economically viable products and services) markets. Ethiopia was recently added to the project as well.
“There are a lot of hazardous chemicals in the value chain, including chemicals of concern and persistent organic pollutants,” Franchesca Beru of UNIDO said regarding why the project exists, according to Engineering News. “This presents an obstacle to recycling throughout the value chain because you cannot recycle these materials when they contain hazardous chemicals.”
Plus, most textile discards end up in landfills to be incinerated or burned “in the open,” Beru explained, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil fuels. Not to mention the issue of excessive wastewater production throughout the textile value chain.
“Another reason, on the positive side, is that it also presents a business opportunity,” Beru said of the project. “A lot of brands are looking to source sustainable materials. That presents an opportunity for businesses who want to export or, talking about local content, brands might want to source recycled materials for their labels to say that it is sustainably sourced.”
The participating countries were selected based on their export contributions; “South Africa is a top 10 exporter of apparel as are Lesotho, Madagascar and Ethiopia,” according to Beru, who also explained that UNIDO selected these countries based on the organization’s previous experiences as well as regional integration.
The project’s preparation phase took place in 2021, featuring eight clothing and textile companies in the coastal South African province of Kwa-Zulu Natal as well as the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. During that period, information was gathered to support UNIDO’s proposal to the GEF for funding, which involved various assessments, studies on gender, waste categorizations, and chemicals used, among other topics.
“During the PPG phase, several root causes and barriers to full implementation of circular economy in the sector were identified in Lesotho, Madagascar and South Africa, and all three project countries faced similar challenges related to the continued use of hazardous chemicals in the value chains,” the NCPC said. “This includes the release of chemicals during production, use and disposal, generation and disposal of wastes, offcuts and discards, and their impact on human health and the environment.”
The three leading causes were limited capacity and expertise, limited coordination between local, regional and global initiatives, and the lack of an enabling environment focusing on policy and regulation. The project aims to address these challenges over the next five years.
International partners supporting the inititative include Cambridge University Circular Economy Centre (CEC), which will assist in developing new business models and financial mechanisms of the circular economy; the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Africa, which offers services related to circular economy policy and legislation; the Sustainable Fashion Academy (SFA), which provides services related to the development of sustainable apparel; and the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC), which builds capacity on good chemical management practices through training programs and workshops.
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