‘I want to finish the cycle of waste’

There’s no such thing as waste according to Nonumiso Sibiya. The 21-year-old is a Diepsloot resident and was selected as one of the 14 social entrepreneurs invited to participate in this year’s Red Bull Amaphiko Academy.

The academy offers crucial support to grass-roots social entrepreneurs by providing them with mentorship, coaching and assistance to unlock various business opportunities.

Sibiya was selected because the company she co-founded with business partner Sbusiso Shongwe, Boombadotmobi, aims to alleviate the scourge of illegal dumping in Diepsloot and the rest of the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. The Fourways Review previously reported on Sbusiso Shongwe and Boombadotmobi in the article Brains behind waste disposal [Week ending 16 August].

“We as a planet are seeing the impact of plastics and other wastes on the environment,” she explained to the Fourways Review at the The Wot-if? Trust grounds in Diepsloot where her company is located.

“I live in Diepsloot and I noticed a lot of waste in the township – not just rubbish produced by residents, but also building rubble. They even dumped it near where I live.

“This rubbish was coming from outside the township, from the suburbs, and so I wanted to find a way to say to those people ‘hey, do you know where your waste ends up?’.”

To encourage responsible waste management, Sibiya and Shongwe founded Boombadotmobi as a middleman between those trying to dispose of their waste and truck operators who already had businesses to collect rubbish.

Boombadotmobi mandates all its truck operator partners to take photos of the area cleaned while waste is being collected and also of where the waste is disposed of after collection for its customers, therefore proving that the job is done and that the waste will not affect the environment.

“We are the bridge between the customers and the truck operators. Boombadotmobi takes 25 per cent of the fees charged to customers, and the remaining 75 per cent goes to the truck operators.

“For customers, this is a chance for them to be sure that they are not part of the problem, and we appeal to people who are environmentally conscious while still being convenient. For truck operators, we help them market their business and will return to companies who do a good job.”

But simple removal of waste is not the only aim. Once the waste is removed from customers, Sibiya wants to see it sustainably managed.

Therefore, she has put together a number of ways to manage the rubbish – building rubble is used to rehabilitate roads; garden refuse is given to commercial farmers who can use it for compost heaps; single use plastics can be turned into eco-bricks; and miscellaneous items such as scrap metal, old electronics and broken furniture needs to get to the right hands for it to be re-purposed and used again.

“There is no such thing as waste, one man’s waste is another man’s treasure,” Sibiya explained.

“Now and in the future, I want to finish the cycle of waste and collaborate with people who want to change things, particularly in the townships.

“The mentorship programme has been particularly helpful, as I’m getting guidance from others to deal with blind spots in the business.”

She concluded, “It is also so nice to have a family of social entrepreneurs who know what it’s like [to do difficult work] and so I don’t feel so alone.”

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