In South Africa, landfills are filling up at a worrying pace, leading to pressure on scarce space for waste and high levels of emissions. Covid-19 has shown the vulnerability of the waste management industry in the country, as all stakeholders have been negatively impacted, from collectors to recyclers. 

To address the growing waste issue and create new economic opportunities for the country, South Africa has approved the National Waste Management Strategy 2020. The policy is based on the Circular Economy and aims to drive sustainable, inclusive economic growth and development in the waste sector while reducing the social and environmental impacts of waste. The project is primarily centered on preventing waste and diverting waste from landfills. Its implementation strategy focuses on making it easier to create jobs in the waste sector while also raising awareness and enforcement. The government is also addressing the position of waste pickers and the informal sector in the Circular Economy, encouraging product design packaging that eliminates waste or promotes reuse, repair, and recycling planning, and supporting markets for source-separated recyclables. Additionally, the strategy investigates possible legislative or economic measures to boost participation rates in residential separation at source programs, as well as engaging in the industries associated with transporting recyclables to waste disposal facilities and addressing the sector's skills gaps. Lastly, they also target the problem of organic waste by setting the target of 50% organic waste diversion from landfills by 2022, and by 2027, 100% of organic waste diversion. This opens up the possibility of investing in anaerobic digestion, composting, and other similar technologies within the country.

South Africa’s recent National Waste Strategy incorporates circular economy practices well and builds social and environmental value for the nation. They have increased awareness of the issue of waste with the initiative, improved their resource usage, involved the informal sector in their solution, generated jobs, and provided a direction for a clearer path to circular transition for the future.