The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program (WISP) is a government program ran by the non-profit organisation GreenCape, with support of the city of Cape Town, to connect businesses around the Cape Town area. The program led workshops and created an online database to incentivise and train companies to use synergies in waste streams. Over five years, it has created 143 jobs and diverted almost 27'500 tons of waste. The program has been widely considered a success and catalysed development of similar programmes across South Africa.

Promoting industrial symbiosis in Cape Town

Report profiling the waste situation in the Western Cape (and Cape Town more specifically), detailing the opportunities to be found in the organics, e-waste, plastic and builders' rubble sectors to add value to the economy. The report outlines key drivers of these opportunities: legislation and regulation, government intervention and EPRs among them.

 South African waste management report

The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program (WISP) was formed by the City of Cape Town, GreenCape, and SYNERGie to create connections between various businesses.The National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA), with provincial government partners, facilitates industrial symbiosis workshops for interested companies to exchange information with a view to developing a symbiotic relationship.

Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program for material reuse and consumption reduction

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This case study, which focusses on textiles, is written to demonstrate how organisations that act as intermediaries can create economic opportunities that contribute to a circular economy in a developing country, such as South Africa. The case study discusses:- How waste can be used as a resource to drive economic growth and social upliftment,- How intermediaries can unlock circular economy opportunities,- How a circular economy can be emergent from addressing economic and social imperatives in a developing country context, and- How collaboration enables the organisation and partnering individuals to each have a sustainable business model.

Life Beyond the Sales Rack - Redistribution of Excess Merchandise in the Retail Sector

In South Africa, food waste makes up a considerable amount of landfilled waste (could be up to 20%) and as the country is running low on landfill spaces, alternatives for this waste stream need to be found. One way to treat this is to use it as feed for Black Soldier Fly farming as insect protein production, as implemented by Inseco in Cape Town, or many other companies in many other countries. The insect protein can be used as feed for further agriculture or farming purposes, and the food waste is significantly reduced. The flies only grow and live to reproduce and do not feed on anything, so they represent no harm by spreading of diseases.