Businesses built on used paper

By launching some 130 used paper ‘buy-back’ centres throughout South Africa, Mondi is contributing to a tidier country, is maximising the use of reclaimed fibre in its operations, and has helped create some 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

A buy-back centre accepts and sorts collected and donated paper and cardboard that’s been bought, used and discarded by the consumer, before supplying it back to Mondi for re-use.

In 1999, Mondi first developed the concept of approaching councils to give us unused land to use as a recycling centre. We would then identify a suitable black entrepreneur to run it as his (or preferably her) own business, who would then be responsible for employing on-site staff and a team of hawkers to collect waste paper.

In addition, we recruited a team of drivers to make kerbside collections – subsequently, these people have become self-employed, and many have bought second and even third vehicles as their businesses expand.

While the concept precisely matches current legislative requirements, it predates the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act by some years. It has also made us significantly the largest recycler in our industry in South Africa, responsible for the collection of 380,000 tonnes of waste paper per year out of a national total of 935,000 tonnes.

And it’s good business for us – the cost of fibre sourced in this way is significantly lower than that from our plantations.

Last change: 27/03/2008