What do we do?
The KwaMashu Materials Beneficiation Centre is an innovation centre that researches and develops “green” products that can be introduced into South Africa’s circular economy. We take various types of solid and organic waste materials, pre-process them into usable forms and then combine them to make eco products. Solid waste materials include illegally dumped building rubble, street sweepings, low-value glass, non-recyclable plastics, post-consumer shoes and clothing, and organic materials including alien invasive plants, garden waste and food waste.
How do we do it?
We support collection systems that extract non-recyclable / low-value materials from areas where municipal waste management systems may exist but also where they don’t. We transport these materials to our materials beneficiation centre in KwaMashu where they get granulated / crushed / hammermilled to small particles which allows the solid waste to be made into various “Green Concrete” products such as pavers or retaining blocks or pressed into plastic sheets. Organic waste is made into bokashi compost
Where do we do it?
Currently our collections happen across the eThekwini Municipality and beneficiation takes place at our innovation centre in KwaMashu. We have a commercialisation plan to set up 10 to 20 beneficiation modules around eThekwini by 2026.
What is the impact?
Our Innovation centre currently processes 2 tons of material a day, however, it should be noted that this is done as Research and Development. Once our multiple beneficiation models are operationalised in viable commercial operations, our technologies will have a significantly greater capacity to extract waste from the environment and convert it into eco-products, thereby creating multiple jobs and incomes in the process.
How can you get involved?
- We are looking for volunteers and funding
- Work with us to replicate our models
- Make a donation of pavers to schools. Donation of pavers to schools raises awareness within our youth of the need to manage our waste responsibly and understand that today’s waste is tomorrow's resource.
Green Products
Bokashi Compost
Our Bokashi Compost, in addition to diverting organic waste from landfill, has many additional environmental benefits:
- It reduces carbon footprint due to shorter distances being travelled to reprocess the organic waste material.
- Our Bokashi compost is produced using an anaerobic fermentation process unlike other composts which use the natural composting (decomposition) process. The fermentation process produces less CO2 and or methane so is 60 times more environmentally responsible than the current endpoint for the materials we use. As such, we envisage these SMMEs especially cumulatively to have a substantial carbon credit trading capacity.
- We integrate alien invasive plant materials into our compost as a way of improving biodiversity which is so severely compromised by alien invasive propagation.
- Our packaging is reusable unlike other compost packaging which is single-use
- We impose strict quality controls on our Bokashi compost to ensure consistently superior quality compost free of alien invasive seeds.
- We have done multiple grow tests in various environments with various soils which we have proven to be highly cost-effective compared to similar products.
- We are committed to supplying our high-quality compost in ergonomic and sustainable packaging
DOSAGE:
- Standard soil conditioning: 100grams (one double handful) per m2 of soil
- Depleted soil reconditioning up to 300g /m2
INSTRUCTIONS:
PLEASE NOTE, the fermentation process through rendering more available nutrients to plants per KG causes our Bokashi Compost to be HIGHLY ACIDIC. (It can have a pH of as low as 3.5) This makes it ESSENTIAL to mix the above dosage of Bokashi into NON-PLANT CONTAINING soil for 2 WEEKS, after which planting can be effected or bokashi-rich soil can be added to planted beds.
Green Pavers
One way we divert many of these challenging materials from landfill, is by reducing them down into small pieces and blending them together with cement to make what we call Green Concrete products.
- All waste material in our green concrete products is fully integrated into our products to make sure it doesn’t leach out and damage the environment.
- Pavers are made with 87% waste (by volume) with a particularly hard (recycled glass) top surface to ensure a long lifespan.
- Each paver production line (comprising 4 previously unskilled staff) can make 50-60 pavers a day.
- Pavers are sold for R115 (incl VAT) which generates sustainable incomes for these staff and enough revenue to grow the project.
- It is our intention to set up multiple facilities around eThekwini to prove the business model and then replicate the model in other cities.
- Each facility costs approximately R400k to set up. Three production lines can run out of one facility so a facility can produce up to 200 pavers a day.
- We are developing a range of pavers with different surfaces for different environments/markets.
The above pavers are made specifically for schools and have brightly coloured plastic on the top surface so they stand out as a feature in schools. We hope this in turn raises awareness of the potential value of what is perceived to be waste and also the need to manage waste responsibly.
Pavers are available for purchase by the public for R115 per paver (incl VAT, ex works- Kwa Mashu KZN) or for donation to schools for R150 per paver , delivered and installed (section 18A certificate available on request.)
Should you be interested in purchasing pavers please complete the below enquiry form.
Green Corridors operates on a model of: for every 10 pavers purchased, one paver is donated (to the school we have identified as being the neediest beneficiary) Currently, Green Corridors is supporting Shayamoya School.
If you do not wish to buy pavers but would like to donate pavers to Shayamoya School, please click on the donate link and you will be taken to our crowdfunding campaign page.
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