An absurd amount of the food produced in the world today – as much as a third – goes to waste
across the supply chain. A third of all edible food in South Africa is never consumed and ends up in
landfill, adding pressure to an already over-extended waste system. Meanwhile, millions don’t have
enough to eat.
Improper waste management leads to soil, air, and water pollution and attracts disease vectors.
Mismanaged waste can block storm water drains, resulting in flooding that creates unsanitary and
toxic conditions, disproportionately affecting poor people, who are more likely to live near or work
at waste disposal locations. Municipal solid waste poses a growing threat that surpasses local and
regional boundaries. It has become a global challenge, with mounting public health, environmental,
social, and economic costs.
There is an urgent need to transition from the traditional linear economic model (take-make-
dispose) and adopt widely accepted sustainable alternatives such as the waste hierarchy and circular
economy approaches. A waste hierarchy approach prioritizes waste prevention, reuse, recycling, and
recovery before disposal. A circular economy closes the loop between extraction, manufacturing,
and disposal by advocating for designing products to reduce waste, using products and materials for
as long as possible, and recycling materials from end‐of‐life products back into the economy.
Over the last 7-month period, on the soul & science farm in Emona, Tongaat, we have deployed
various circular economic activities to address food waste, propagate food production with
increased nutrition and highlight possible economic opportunities for participants using little to no
recourses other than food waste with focus on organic soil. Soil health is directly linked to crop
productivity increased output and a higher nutritional content. In Africa, where food security is a
daily challenge, understanding soil health can help rural emerging farmers produce more food and
improve their livelihoods.
