EThekwini Waste Management - January 2021 - Connected Places Catapult
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January 2021 eThekwini Waste Management
Urban Links Africa – eThekwini (Waste Management) 1 Executive summary Welcome to Connecting Places Catapult: Urban Links Africa (ULA) market analysis. ULA is an ambitious programme, funded by the UK government through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and delivered by Innovate UK and Connected Places Catapult. We work closely with six cities - Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu in Kenya; and Cape Town, Johannesburg and eThekwini (Durban) in South Africa - to tackle some of their key urban challenges and improve citizens’ lives. ULA does this by facilitating a sustainable collaboration between the UK, South Africa, and Kenya, bringing together cities and tech ecosystems through equitable partnerships and industry investment. We share here foundational research and analysis which describes the urban challenges we are focusing on and their context in each country. Through discussion with city stakeholders, we have finalised three urban challenges (one for each ULA city) in South Africa, and four urban challenges across the three Kenyan cities. The key challenges in South Africa are: • Cape Town: building resilience in informal settlements • eThekwini: improving solid waste management and reducing pollution • Johannesburg: sustainable mobility The four key challenges to be addressed across the three Kenyan cities of Mombasa, Kisumu and Nairobi are: • Solid waste management • Flooding • Wastewater management • Traffic management and active mobility In this section of the document, we will give an overview of eThekwini (Durban). We will examine the innovation potential of eThekwini, comparing it with its global peers, examining its innovation ecosystem and business attractiveness. We will then discuss initiatives that governments, private, local and international NGOs and other stakeholders have undertaken to address waste management. We will examine recent and ongoing projects which attempt to tackle these problems, in order to ensure that the collaborators we are supporting as part of ULA are able to learn from and build upon the efforts of others.
eThekwini 2
Contents
eThekwini Overview 3
Benchmarking eThekwini’s Innovation Potential 5
Which cities is eThekwini most like? 5
Performance Review 7
Innovation 8
Innovation Ecosystem 10
Waste Management and Pollution 12
Waste Management 12
Pollution 15
Data 16
Who is Doing What? 16
Appendix 1 22
Green Corridors – Interview with Nick Swan (Green Spaces Development Manager) and
Duncan Pritchard (Marketing and Tourism Development Manager) 22
0 eThekwini 3
eThekwini Overview
Situated on the east coast of South Africa, looking out towards the
Indian Ocean, eThekwini is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most sought
after visitor destinations. A cultural and ethnically diverse city of 3.44
million people, eThekwini is the third most populated city in South
Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town.
eThekwini has rapidly grown since the early 2000s to successfully establish itself as one of Africa’s
strategic gateways for trade and logistics. Transport and logistics are attracting high levels of foreign
investment as are the city’s growing finance and manufacturing sectors.
Global investors are drawn by eThekwini’s improving quality of life and work balance, its harbour
location and natural beauty. The city is also recognised for innovation, with a high density of
technology-enabled firms, providing a platform for collaboration and partnership.
0 eThekwini 4
eThekwini was recently named as the greenest city in the world due to its high levels of green space in
its urban areas. However, despite being a place of outstanding natural beauty, the city has a problem
with its waste management practices. Poor waste management practices have led to illegal dumping
and pollution, exposing the city’s to hazardous materials and causing environmental degradation.
For a fast-growing tourist destination like eThekwini, waste and pollution can have significant negative
impacts on its natural assets and thus its economy. The tourism and leisure sector suffer from plastic
pollution on the beaches, and air pollution around the beach and harbour.
This report discusses eThekwini’s attempts to address its waste management issues. The first section of
the report discusses eThekwini’s innovation potential, comparing and benchmarking the city against
its global peers and examining its innovation ecosystem.
In the second section we will look more deeply into waste management. We will discuss the actions
taken by the city authorities to tackle the issue and examine local initiative solutions to waste
management treatment.
0 eThekwini 5
Benchmarking eThekwini’s Innovation Potential
The largest container port city in Sub-Saharan Africa (and 3rd largest in the Southern
Hemisphere), eThekwini has in recent years managed to successfully establish itself as one of the
continent’s strategic gateway cities for trade and logistics.
Its local economy has evolved substantially, mainly because of its growing port and logistics economy,
which now sees more than 65% of all South Africa’s containers passing through. Meanwhile a whole
cycle of recent public-private regeneration projects has aimed to leverage the
city’s inherited natural assets and to re-create the city as one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most sought after
and celebrated visitor destinations.
Yet relative to its larger South African counterparts, eThekwini has experienced slower economic
growth over the past two decades. Skills deficit, slower growth in higher education attainment and
difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled talent have been among the barriers to productivity and
the propensity to scale innovate ideas.
This ‘outside in’ note draws on available international benchmarks to capture eThekwini’s
current performance relative to cities in the Global South, 7 leading cities in Sub-Saharan Africa and 7
similar ‘peers’ globally - other mid-sized coastal port cities that are becoming more internationally
connected.
Which cities is eThekwini most like?1
Table 1: eThekwini most similar cities across various themes
Global rank
Theme Most similar cities
(raw data)
154th / 300 Surabaya, Indonesia; Abuja, Nigeria;
Population
(3.4m) Guatemala City
289th / 300 Montevideo, Uruguay; Tijuana, Mexico; Hanoi,
Economic size (GDP)
($48bn) Vietnam
Manila, Philippines ; Bangkok, Thailand ;
Innovation intensity* 91st / 107
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Xiamen, China ; Grande Vitoria, Brazil ; Puebla,
Sector mix** N/A
Mexico
Transport infrastructure
138th / 181 Curitiba, Brazil; Bangalore, India; Cali, Colombia
performance
0 eThekwini 6
*No. of recognised technology-enabled start-ups, scale-ups and established corporates per resident. **Share of economic
output across industry sectors, where raw data highlights 3 most prominent sectors.
1 Population and Economic Size data: JLL Global 650 (2018), data from 2017
Innovation Intensity: The Business of Cities analysis based on Crunchbase data, retrieved March 2019.
Sector Mix: Brookings Global Metro Monitor Data 2015
Transport Infrastructure Performance: IESE Cities in Motion Index 2019.
When comparing innovation outcomes with other Global South Cities, eThekwini achieves a similar
level of innovation intensity as capital cities and major economic hubs such as Bangkok and Manila. Its
industry mix most closely resembles other cities with comparatively large transport and logistics
sectors as well as specialisation in finance and business services, while its transport infrastructure
performance puts it on a par predominantly with other similarly sized Latin American cities that have
experimented with bus rapid transit or other light rail systems to ease congestion.
Figure 1: eThekwini’s relative performance across innovation-related areas
Based on 50 metrics and 300 data points. Peers and Sub-Saharan African peers selected based on population size, productivity,
global and regional status, and visibility in global benchmarks.
Global peers (other mid-sized coastal port cities with medium degree of global reach): Fuzhou, Izmir, Maputo, Mombasa, Salvador,
Surat, Yangon (all 3-7.5m metropolitan population)
Sub-Saharan African comparators (non-primary cities): Abuja, Bukoba, Kisangani, Kisumu, Mwanza, Pointe-Noire, Pretoria, Yaounde.
0 eThekwini 7
Performance Review
Despite a nationwide slowdown in economic growth, eThekwini has attracted progressively more
investment opportunities. It has experienced the 15th highest growth in foreign direct investment
amongst major African cities since the early 2000s i, its property market has surged, and transport and
logistics are set to become significant drivers of investment in the coming years. Global investors point
to eThekwini’s improving quality of life and work-life balance, its harbour location and its relatively
cost-effective distribution system and number of attractive office rentals, as differentiators in the South
African context. Yet, as eThekwini’s profile grows, benchmarks also scrutinise its administrative agility,
its limited provision of public services and areas where public transport and digital infrastructure is
deteriorating.
eThekwini also stands out for several measures of innovation: it has a stronger consumer base to
market, develop and test new products, a higher than average purchasing power, it has been able to
absorb more global investment, and, compared to its peers in the Global South, it also has a relatively
high density of technology-enabled firms, providing a platform for collaboration and partnerships.
The city’s status as a top choice for industry and global business process outsourcing (where eThekwini
is just outside the global top 50) reflects broadly improving confidence in labour market and business
climate fundamentals. eThekwini’s internet speed is also relatively high, ranking in the top 20 among
50 measured Sub-Saharan Africa and Global South cities.
As an expanding metropolitan area, eThekwini stands out for certain elements of urban sustainability.
Investment made by the city government in the city’s green infrastructure has helped to build the city’s
resilience to climate change hazards, while projects ranging from tree-planting initiatives to
pedestrianisation have contributed to creating a higher quality environment in several districts. With
60% of its urban space classified as trees, grass or other green surfaces, eThekwini was recently named
the greenest city in the worldii. Its high level of budgetary capability (eThekwini has the highest per
capita budget among 20 measured African cities), a result primarily of higher per capita incomes and
stronger tax recovery, also enables the city to make and partner in longer-term investments.
Despite these advantages eThekwini’s innovation environment is held back by limitations in public
transport, low population density and workforce skills – which reduce the growth, clustering, and co-
location potential of start-ups.
eThekwini inherits advantages in terms of resilience and start-up appetite, but faces barriers in terms of
global reach, infrastructure, and urban form.
0 eThekwini 8
Figure 2: eThekwini’s gap to top-performing peer city for 8 sample indicators
*Used as proxy for openness to global markets in absence of other data.
** National data for China
Innovation
In the major measure of cities’ ability to foster innovation through having the right ingredients for
commercialisation, high impact research, firm co-location and interaction, and others, eThekwini still
ranks outside the global top 400. At 423rd, it is down 18 places since last year, and placed within the
‘upstart’ category. It is currently the lowest ranked city among its peers except for Surat.
Yet several innovation dynamics are more promising. In terms of the number and performance of
recognised technology-enabled firms present in the city, eThekwini more than holds its own. The city
already has more than 100 high-innovation firms and is already home to several promising mid-size
start-ups. Relative to Izmir, Maputo and Mombasa, eThekwini is also unique in having at least one
globally influential innovative firmiii, Aspen Pharmacare, which demonstrates the potential for the
ecosystem to achieve impact (see Figure 2).
eThekwini already has several promising mid-size and rapidly scaling innovative firms.
0 eThekwini 9
Figure 3: Number and type of high-innovation firms in eThekwini
Source: Crunchbase. Globally influential = ranking in global top 20,000. Rapidly scaling = top 50,000. Promising mid-size = top
100,000. Start-ups = all other firms. *Ranking calculated based on aggregate measure of firm and investment activity, growth and
dynamism, and media visibility.
A growing mismatch between skills supply and demand, coupled with the relative lack of support for
informal settlement dwellers, have contributed to worsening economic exclusion and an increase in
unemployment. eThekwini now has the 2nd highest unemployment rate among 17 measured African
cities and the joint highest income inequality in Africa along with Johannesburg (Figure 4)iv. The city
does, however, perform relatively well for gender inclusion, both in terms of the proportion of elected
officials who are women and the small gap between male and female literacy rates.
eThekwini excels relative to other African cities for
gender inclusion, but remains behind for economic
inclusion
Figure 4: % unemployment and % female elected officials, eThekwini and selected global cities0 eThekwini 10
Innovation Ecosystem
eThekwini’s economy and innovation ecosystem are concentrated around the CBD/harbour.
Businesses benefit from proximity to major institutions, banks as well as the port, a major player in the
ecosystem seeking to support SMEs in maritime industries. Further down the port is Durban South
Industrial Basin, in which many heavy manufacturing industries are co-locating. The Toyota plant,
located in the basin, has led to the government choosing to open an automotive supplier park in Illovo
to support the automotive cluster. Other nodes have emerged along the two national roads (going
North and going West), with Umhlanga and Pinetown home to smaller clusters of disruptive
companies.
Map 1: eThekwini’s Tech-enabled Companies
Ecosystem promoters, enablers and investors mostly congregate in the CBD. In addition to the
university’s incubator, eThekwini is also home to SmartXchange and Invotech, both significant
contributors to eThekwini’s ecosystem through partnerships with industry players, tertiary institutions
and the government. While many investors in South Africa do not have a physical presence in
eThekwini, banks like Nedbank and ASBA, and investment companies and venture capital firms are
starting to build their track record of investing in start-ups, through direct equity, grants, and loans.0 eThekwini 11
Map 2: eThekwini’s Incubators, Accelerators and Investors0 eThekwini 12
Waste Management and
Pollution
For a fast-growing tourist destination like eThekwini, waste and pollution can have significant negative
impacts on its natural assets and thus, its economy. As in other cities, a lack of incentives to encourage
waste segregation, infrastructure to support recycling activities and a dearth of green energy sources
are leading to various forms of pollution. Pollution exposes the city's communities to hazardous
materials and causes environmental degradation. There are economic consequences as well: while
Durban is a place of outstanding natural beauty, the tourism and leisure sectors suffer from plastic
pollution on the beaches, and air pollution around the port and harbour.
eThekwini’s solid waste management faces chronic and severe challenges. As the metropolitan
population grows, its landfill capacity is reaching its limits with two out of three landfills now refusing
general solid waste. This puts even more pressure on the remaining landfill, Buffelsdraai, which is also
the furthest from the city centre and the rest of the metropolitan area. As a result, the city experiences
an increase in illegal dumping as well as associated congestion from inefficient waste locations.
Waste Management
eThekwini suffers from poor waste management practices. The region produces significant amounts of
waste (see Figure 5) relative to other cities in the Global South and ranks 31st out of 38 metropolitan
areas worldwide for the amount of waste generated per person.
eThekwini generates significant amount of waste
for its size.
Figure 5: Amount of waste generated per capita0 eThekwini 13
With only 8% of total waste being diverted from landfills, eThekwini lags behind many other Sub-
Saharan African cities such as Bamako (85% recycling rate) and Nairobi (24%), both of which have taken
more decisive steps in recent years to formalise informal waste pickers.
Not all waste is seen as valuable and therefore both citizens and formal management services do not
have incentives to segregate, re-cycle or repurpose different forms of waste. Ineffective waste
management services is a persistent problem particularly in the city townships, which has led to many
illegal dumping and informal dump sites being generated by the community, costing the municipality
over R180 000 000 annually ($11,000,000) in removal and rehabilitationv.
DSW - The Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit of eThekwini Municipality, is the leading provider of
comprehensive waste management service. DSW operate formal waste buy back schemes and
recycling centres. Residents can either drop off their recyclable materials at a drop off centre without
receiving reimbursement or take the materials to a Buy Back Centre and receive a cash payment. The
department has 22 recycling centres throughout the cityvi. Map 3 shows waste transfer stations and
landfills located within eThekwini.
Map 3: Solid Waste Management in eThekwini
The service is limited and tend to focus on specific types of waste such as cardboard, rather than
metals and plastics for example. Furthermore, studies reveal that household collection of waste is
more beneficial than drop-off centres (with no economic incentives) when attempting to increase
recycling ratesvii.
Similarly, informal ‘waste pickers’ segregate some but not all waste. Figure 6 shows the solid waste
management process in a typical South African municipality.0 eThekwini 14
Figure 6 Waste Collection in eThekwini
Source: South Africa – Waste Classification Report. Summary and Analysis of waste generation and disposal data collected in
eThekwini and the City of Cape Town, South Africa – The Common Wealth Litter Programme (2020)
Improved collaboration with informal waste pickers could be one way of strengthening understanding
of where and what type of waste is being dumped and consequently, to improve waste management.
Research has shown that 84% of waste pickers in eThekwini felt they are treated poorly by local
authorities and 89% said regulations and bylaws regarding waste were an issueviii. Restrictions imposed
by city authorities, limit the waste they can collect. The vast majority of waste pickers do not have
permits. Waste pickers have to negotiate with private operators of landfills, who only offer few permits.
In addition, waste pickers lack adequate clothing and equipment which compromises their ability to
collect the desired volumes of recyclables. The lack of appropriate clothing exposes them to
occupational health and safety hazards.
As a result of poor waste management practices, illegal dumping and burning of toxic waste are
prevalent. It was found that 10.8% of households in eThekwini that do not get serviced regularly bury,
burn or dump their wasteix. This is despite the DSW’s Integrated Waste Management approach;
encouraging customers to achieve the “triple R’s” – Reduction, Re-use and Recycling by using waste
management and educational programmes. However, it was found that these programmes have been
ineffective, particularly in eThekwini’s townships. A survey into Ntuzuma Township into effectiveness
of waste management services in 2018, for example, found that 77% of participants have not received
waste management training or campaigns provided by eThekwini Municipalityx.0 eThekwini 15
Pollution
Lack of recycling and waste segregation leads to more use of landfill and more exposure to waste for
environments and communities. The metropolitan area of eThekwini is crossed by many rivers, more
than 800k of water streams. In eThekwini, around 40% of improperly managed waste is being dumped
into waterwaysxi. A major contributing factor to riverside plastic pollution is a lack of focus given to
managing stormwater solid waste. There is poor integration among relevant government departments
and agencies to effectively control solid waste and stormwater discharge. Plastic pollution due to
dumping, particularly dumping of plastic in rivers from rural KZN and street drainage from settlements
ends up in port harbor and beachfront (Pics A & B).
Pic A & B: Litter following heavy rains on the Blue Lagoon beachfront, eThekwini
Source: South Africa – Waste Classification Report. Summary and Analysis of waste generation and disposal data collected in
eThekwini and the City of Cape Town, South Africa – The Common Wealth Litter Programme (2020)
In certain areas of the city there are factories that provide vital jobs but that also give off toxic fumes.
Informal settlements are often built in proximity to these factories by citizens in search of jobs, with
such communities exposed to unsafe fumes. This is also true of the residential and commercial areas
that surround the highways into the port, which may cause citizens to inhale hazardous fumes.
The South Durban Industrial Basin provides a useful example: The Basin is one of the highest industrial
concentrations in Africa, with industries that include petroleum refineries, a paper mill, an
international airport, landfill sites, incinerators, processing and manufacturing industries, harbour and
rail facilities. Several low-income residential areas are located close to these industrial activities. A study
into the influences of industrial and vehicular emissions on respiratory health in South Durban found
that children attending primary school in South Durban, had an increased risk for persistent asthma
axiixiii compared to the northern suburbs.
There is a continued and steady increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the municipal area (Table 2).0 eThekwini 16
Table 2: Greenhouse Gas Emissions in eThekwini
Source: eThikwini Municipality Integrated Development Plan 2019/20.
The trend is primarily due to increased uses of energy and carbon intensive processes. Few sources of
green energy exist in the city, a missed opportunity with its favourable hot climate and proximity to the
coast. This has been noted by the municipal government who are keen to stimulate activities in this
area.
Data
Underpinning issues of economic dislocation, pollution and waste management is the issue of data.
Government has a poor understanding of where and what type of waste is being dumped, by both
citizens and formal service providers, making it difficult to plan effective waste management solutions.
All information regarding the legal generation and management of waste is captured by the South
African Waste Information Centre (SAWIC). Municipalities are required to submit monthly waste
reports on quantities of waste disposed of and diverted from waste disposal facilities via the Integrated
Pollutant and Waste Information System (IPWIS). However, eThekwini has a lack of comprehensive
data on such activities.
Who is Doing What?
The municipality has implemented a number of ongoing actions to tackle the challenges of waste
management and pollution. These have included The Take Back Our Rivers Project, the Energy
Efficiency Solar Project and the Buffelsdraai Landfill closed loop system.
The Take Back Our Rivers Project (TBOR) is an initiative of eThekwini Conservancies Forum to restore
the health of selected rivers in the Municipality through rehabilitation and restoration strategies. The
project engaged with communities from various economic backgrounds, with the intention of
encouraging these communities to take co-responsibility with the designated authorities for the health
of the stretch of river that they live on and/or use. The project has had a degree of success, launching
successful sub projects (disposable nappies sub project, for example) and extending its coverage into
other rivers.0 eThekwini 17
The Durban Energy Office Solar Project aims to achieve the objective of ensuring that 40% of
eThekwini’s electricity is supplied via renewable energy by 2030. The Municipality hopes this will be
achieved by implementing small scale renewable energy generation, which includes rooftop solar
power within municipal buildings and assets. A pilot project where 5 municipal buildings were
identified for installation has proven to be a success. The Energy Office realised that eThekwini has
excellent solar resource potential (the city can boast an average of 300 days of sunshine per annum)
and that this was not being exploited as it should be.
The Buffelsdraai landfill closed loop system project focussed on improving waste management
processes in the municipality. The idea behind the loop system is anything that comes onto the site
should not leave in any form. The landfill compacts and covers everyday waste to minimise the
chances of odour or fly and vermin breeding. Landfill gas is extracted and used for flaring, thus
destroying methane. In addition, there is a reforestation project through the planting of more than
500,000 indigenous trees within the buffer zone of the landfill site. The project involves the local
community, who are given seeds and cuttings to grow trees to a predetermined size and return them
to the landfill area where they are exchanged for vouchers. The vouchers can be used for various items
such as school fees, bicycles, food and other services.
The project has been a success in both creating jobs and livelihood benefits for poor communities and
in the reduction of CO2 emissions. The site would sequester 42,214 tons of CO2 over a 20 year periodxiv.
The eThekwini Municipality have introduced individual policies and projects to tackle waste
management challenges. The “Orange Bag Recycling Project” was a separation at source initiative.
Initially servicing 800,000 households on a weekly basis with their municipal waste collection, the
project had mixed success, but ended in 2018. Media reports suggested the initiative was ended due to
irregularities in the tendering and contracting processxv.
To combat river pollution, the municipality has designed and installed “trash traps and oil separation”
weirs on rivers and canals around the city. In addition, spot fines of up to R5000 ($300) have been
issued to anyone found illegally dumping rubbishxvi.
A number of grass roots, non-governmental organisations and international organisations are involved
in projects tacking eThekwini’s waste management and pollution challenges. An overview of these
organisation is given in Table 3 and Figure 8 (see below).0 eThekwini 18
Case study: Green
Corridors
Durban Green Corridors is a non-profit organisation that specialises in
information and reservations for leisure and outdoor activities within the city
of eThekwini. The organisation works closely with eThekwini Municipality and
the Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust to facilitate poverty reduction efforts via
eco-tourism and outdoor activities. They are involved in various social cohesion
projects, including recycling activities.
Their recent project to clean the Umgeni River is addressing the challenge of waste management and
pollution. The organisation is collecting non-recyclable plastic from Umgeni River and reusing the
reclaimed material as part of paving networks, walkways and eco-landscapes in and around eThekwini.
Pic 1: Ungami River
Source: https://www.capetownetc.com/news/durban-recycles-river-waste-to-make-walkways/
Materials collected are broken down in an eco-friendly manner and repurposed into materials that can
be used to create paving blocks for walkways and landscaping. Building materials made from plastic0 eThekwini 19
tend to last longer. The project motivates the removal of plastic while making cost savings for building
materials.
See Appendix 1 for Interview with: Nick Swan, Green Spaces Development Manager & Duncan Pritchard Marketing and Tourism
Manager. Green Corridors
Map 4: River Projects in eThekwini0 eThekwini 20
Table 3: Key players and Developments in the Area
Organisation Overview Website
International organisations
The Bill & Melinda The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation https://www.gatesfoundatio
Gates Foundation have been involved in several projects in n.org/
eThekwini, particularly projects involving
sanitation.
Local organisations
University of The Pollution Research Group (PRG) http://prg.ukzn.ac.za/
KwaZulu-Natal’s conducts research projects on water
Pollution Research resources, waste water reclamation, the
Group impact of effluents on local
environments, sanitation systems, and
other water related environmental
issues.
South Durban A non- governmental organisation that https://sdcea.co.za/
Community
campaigns for clean air, water and soil
Environmental
and for the alleviation of environmental
Alliance
racism and poverty.
Duzi uMngeni A non-profit organisation who champion https://www.duct.org.za/
Conservation Trust the environmental health of the uMngeni
and uMsunduzi Rivers
(DUCT)0 eThekwini 21
Green Corridors A non-profit company that specialises in https://durbangreencorridor.
information and reservations for leisure co.za/
and outdoor activities, eco-tourism and
recycling projects.
Kloof Conservancy A volunteer organisation which aims to https://www.kloofconservanc
promote environmental awareness and y.org.za/
conservation. Special attention is paid
to habitat restoration, invasive alien
plant eradication, sustainable living
issues, environmental education, public
participation and outreach to previously
disadvantaged neighbouring
communities. They have collaborated
with various national and international
organisations including the eThekwini
Municipality and Cambridge University
on the Take Back our Rivers Project
Use-It A non-profit organisation to research and
develop waste beneficiation technologies
with the aim of diverting waste from
landfill and creating jobs in the green
economy. USE-IT has also constructed a
world class facility in Hammarsdale that
houses 10 incubators for training and
skills development to develop SMEs
within the upcycling and recycling
industry.
Projects
Project Hlwekisa Recycling project led by Coca-Cola South https://www.youtube.com/w
Africa involving local residents in a waste atch?v=U4EuqvsLFs8
management project in an informal
settlement, building community
awareness about pollution and the value
of waste.0 eThekwini 22
Appendix 1
Green Corridors – Interview with Nick Swan (Green Spaces
Development Manager) and Duncan Pritchard
(Marketing and Tourism Development Manager)
Q. What was the opportunity/motivation for you to start up your organisation/business?
Green Corridors dates back years ago as a project of the Municipality. We started as an organisation to
just focus on management of water quality and alien vegetation management. Over time various layers
got added and we evolved into a non-profit organisation, but we were still in close contact with the City
of Durban. However, we can respond to things much quicker than a bureaucratic City department, as
we have grown and taken on an identity of our own.
On the tourism side we focused on beach tourism. We were able to see a niche to get people of the
beaches and into the inland parts of Durban where you have incredible eco-systems and community
tourism. In these areas, there has largely been market failure and we were able to activate this type of
areas. In doing so we are able to add market value to these open spaces. It has been an evolutionary
project, an organic revolution.
Q. What were your main obstacles when setting up your business/organisation? Please describe any
political, economic, social, technical challenges you encountered and how did you overcome these
challenges?
With organic growth comes different needs. Keeping focus is a challenge. From the tourism
perspective, our greatest challenge has been trying to introduce tourism into areas that never had or
have not traditionally been tourism; training people as guides and in accommodation, for example.
The learning curve was very steep. We were walking a line being a non-profit organisation, but also
addressing these commercial needs in a very competitive tourist market. We were positioned as a non-
profit organisation in tourism but trying not to be seen as competition to the private sector.
We had little bureaucratic challenges from the tourist side. From the city/institutional side we found
the municipality to be very siloed. There were problems working with each other, which was an
obstacle to collaboration. However, there was an opportunity for us to facilitate bridging between
municipality and the private sector. There are very strong factional established political interests, and
these have to be navigated on an ongoing basis.
Q. Given what you know now, compared to what was known when you first started, what would you
have done differently to mitigate any problems you encountered?
Tourism: We initially put a lot of investment into facilities for tourism, where we should have
outsourced. Rather than being a tourism operator, be more of a tourism facilitator. We found these
assets are a burden. So now we are outsourcing.0 eThekwini 23
Green spaces: We employed people but as an employer, but now we are moving to training and
equipping independent SMEs. We are developing a business model that can be replicated in other
areas of the city.
Q. What advice would you give a newly formed organisation setting up in your field?
Start where you are, get your praxes right, have your concept and do something that is doable.
Casualties occur where there is a misalignment between theory and local practical focus.
Q. What key lessons were learned after start-up phase as your organisation progressed?
There were big lessons learned in the early phases: we were very single donor focused. That slowly
changed and evolved, which came with a lot of risks in the organisation. There were problems being a
commercial organisation and having one customer.
Q. What support from stakeholders are enabling you to achieve your ongoing goals?
We are fortunate to have champions within the municipality and private sector and communities. In
communities we have a young group of people who have established a nature conservancy in the
township, so that is someone we can partner with at the township level, and engage and implement a
schools programme, for example. They have good links to others, a whole range of people among the
various social sectors. We have technical stakeholders: the municipality, but it is the community
contacts that are putting us in touch with the right people there. We would have achieved very little
without them.
Q. Who do you consider to be your key partners?
The City. Economic Development unit of the City who work closely with us. It is a win-win situation for
us and them. They can achieve their objectives by engaging with a body like ours.
Q. Where do you see the market in five years’ time?
Tourism: We expect quite a big shift in terms of international tourism. Post COVID, we will see a lot less
of the retired people with cash and time available.
We will be more reliant on the domestic market. We will rely on a younger type of traveller, so we have
to mould our product offering to suit those types of traveller. For example, using AirBnB, not using
travel agents etc.
We are also trying to discover and find the market for products that are using bio-based feed stocks.
We are tapping into markets that can compete with more industrial economy. Driven more by
intention than an anticipated market.
Q. Would you be interested in collaborating with another entity and if so, what do you look for in a
collaboration?
This is a strong point for us. We are keen and happy to collaborate. We have always been open to
collaboration and partnerships. This is how we operate. We look for a mutual beneficial opportunity. I
can't really pinpoint what we prefer in a collaboration, there are various and have benefits of their own.
We actively find ways to work together. We are an organisation that values and has rich range of
partnerships: government, academic, private, international and national. We look for a good fit
between our need and what a partner can offer. But also, relationships incur transaction costs, so we
look for existence of a good fit.0 eThekwini 24 Stuart Harper Stuart.harper@cp.catapult.org.uk Bob Burgoyne Bob.burgoyne@cp.catapult.org.uk Borane Gill boranegille@thebusinessofcities.com Visit our website cp.catapult.org.uk Follow us on Twitter @CPCatapult Email us info@cp.catapult.org.uk
0 eThekwini 25
i https://www.afdb.org/en/documents/document/the-state-of-african-cities-2018-106759 (p26)
ii Hasqvarna Urban Green Space Index (2019)
iii Crunchbase, 2020. Based on ranking in the global top 20,000 among over 850,000 identified high-innovation firms globally,
according to an aggregate measure of firm and investment activity, mergers and acquisitions, media visibility and dynamism.
iv Metropolis (2019), African Metropolitan Report
v The Effectiveness of Waste Management Services Offered by eThekwini Municipality: A Case Study of Ntuzuma Township in Durban
– Roelien Du Plessis (2018)
vi http://www.durban.gov.za/City_Services/cleansing_solid_waste/Publications_Policies/Documents/DSW%20BOOKLET.PDF
vii South Africa – Waste Classification Report. Summary and Analysis of waste generation and disposal data collected in eThekwini
and the City of Cape Town, South Africa – The Common Wealth Litter Programme (2020)
viii https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/migrated/publications/files/IEMS-waste-picker-report.pdf
ix South Africa – Waste Classification Report. Summary and Analysis of waste generation and disposal data collected in eThekwini
and the City of Cape Town, South Africa – The Common Wealth Litter Programme (2020)
x The Effectiveness of Waste Management Services Offered by eThekwini Municipality: A Case Study of Ntuzuma Township in Durban
– Roelien Du Plessis (2018)
xi South Africa – Waste Classification Report. Summary and Analysis of waste generation and disposal data collected in eThekwini
and the City of Cape Town, South Africa – The Common Wealth Litter Programme (2020)
xiii https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/environmentoutlook_chapter10.pdf
xiv https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275331347_The_Buffelsdraai_Landfill_Site_Community_Reforestation_Project
xv South Africa – Waste Classification Report. Summary and Analysis of waste generation and disposal data collected in eThekwini
and the City of Cape Town, South Africa – The Common Wealth Litter Programme (2020)
xvi https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news/ethekwini-municipality-attempts-to-stop-river-pollution-14806239You can also read
