Press release: The Waste Transformers Launches at N1 City Mall Cape Town

The improper disposal of waste is one of the fastest growing risks to our planet and way of life. Rotting food leads to increases in methane gasses as the food decomposes in landfills. To address this, the city of Cape Town plans to ban all wet waste from its landfills (from 2022).

The Waste Transformers (Netherlands) and Growthpoint (South Africa), have united to take on the challenge of leveraging end-of-pipeline food waste from shopping malls, to generate a de-centralised change in our approach to organic waste in South Africa. An on-site, anaerobic digester has been installed at N1 City Mall (Western Cape), which is processing the waste from the Mall to generate clean methane. This methane is consumed by an internal combustion engine to produce green electricity and hot water for use within the shopping Centre. In addition a natural fertilizer is created, which will be used in the mall gardens. It is an on-site, smart, green, transportation-free approach to realizing zero-landfill, that makes sense.

The Waste Transformers, are a waste solution provider specialized in converting organic waste streams into energy while simultaneously transforming waste into new products. The Waste Transformers are specialized in a smart, high-impact approach to resource recovery and energy production that aims to power South Africa’s growth with good, green energy, generated locally, whilst simultaneously recovering the assets in waste.

Growthpoint is South Africa’s largest listed real-estate investment trust in South Africa with the long-term vision of becoming a leading international property company.

Nardo Snyman (Internal Sustainability Specialist): “Organic Waste is one of the last barriers to truly achieving Net Zero waste at a number of our properties. With rising levels of pollution in both our country as well as our oceans, it’s no longer a case of best practice to re-purpose our waste but rather a necessity.  We are excited about this initiative as it is aligned to our commitment to environmental responsibility and economic empowerment. The containerized, small-scale, on-site approach to transforming waste into energy holds great potential for both the South African and developing markets.

Lara van Druten, CEO of The Waste Transformers: “This project demonstrates how companies can cooperate in a mutually inclusive way that generates energy for positive economic and social change. We are excited at the opportunity to transform an unused resource – waste – into new energy for South Africa. And, we are truly delighted that we will embark on this journey with a company with the stature of Growthpoint.”

Get in contact with us to learn more about the possibilities of using an installation on your site to generate value from waste.
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