Regenize

Company

Regenize is a waste management start-up that recycles waste collected from households, apartments and offices. This is organised and tracked through mobile technology.

Problem

South Africa’s recycling sector rests on the roughly 90,000 waste pickers who collect material from households and businesses, which represents 90% of all recycled paper and packaging waste. With no access to clean and separated recyclables, waste pickers work in dangerous conditions searching through bins or landfills.

Solution

Regenize provides a “freemium” recycling collection service that incentivises residents with a virtual currency that can be redeemed for rewards such as airtime, data and grocery vouchers. Their free model enables them to reach residents through a decentralised recycling operation that integrates and supports waste pickers with uniforms, equipment, mobile devices, access to clean recyclables and a decentralised recycling hub. In March 2022, the GSMA supported Regenize to scale their solution by establishing new decentralised recycling hubs and developing their Recycling and Remali apps.

Impact

Since partnering with the GSMA, Regenize has:

– Onboarded an additional 6,732 households to their collection services, totalling nearly 8,000 households, including more than 20,000 individuals.

– Created formal employment for 29 waste collectors.

– Integrated their Recycling and Remali apps on MTN’s Ayoba super app, which offers users access to digital and rich media services through channels, microapps and payment solutions.

A message from the founder

“We are not just integrating waste pickers, but also dignifying their role, and assisting them with getting bank cards, providing training on technology and customer service, getting a stable income, enabling access to PPE and to micro-loans.”
– Chad Robertson and Nkazimlo Miti, Co-founders