South Africa’s recycling economy is entering a decisive phase. extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations, corporate sustainability commitments and national circular economy strategies have created momentum. Yet beneath this progress lies a critical weakness: the system still lacks credible, end-to-end visibility of material flows.
Without reliable data on who collects what, where it goes and who gets paid, the recycling economy remains inefficient, exclusionary and vulnerable to mistrust. This is where digital traceability could make or break the system.
At present, recycling data in South Africa is fragmented and often opaque. Municipal reporting is inconsistent, EPR schemes rely heavily on self-reported figures and informal waste pickers, who recover the majority of post-consumer recyclables, remain largely invisible in official datasets.
This lack of visibility creates downstream problems: producers struggle to verify compliance, recyclers face supply uncertainty, municipalities cannot plan infrastructure effectively, and informal workers remain excluded from recognition and economic participation.
Digital traceability addresses these challenges by creating verifiable records of material flows across the recycling value chain, from collection and aggregation to processing and end markets. When designed properly, traceability systems assign digital identities to materials, actors and transactions, creating a shared source of truth across stakeholders.
Blockchain-enabled platforms have attracted particular attention because of their ability to provide tamper-resistant and auditable records. In a sector where multiple actors — municipalities, producers, recyclers, EPR schemes and informal collectors — operate with limited co-ordination, trust deficits are a major barrier to collaboration. Distributed ledgers can help address this by ensuring recovery data is transparent, verifiable and accessible to authorised participants.
However, blockchain is a tool, not a solution in itself; its effectiveness depends entirely on how it is governed and integrated. For EPR schemes digital traceability could be transformative. It enables more credible compliance monitoring, reduces fraud and allows incentives to be linked to verified recovery outcomes rather than estimated volumes.
Instead of relying on aggregated reports, producers could track real-time recovery data by material type and geography. This would support smarter investment decisions, improve accountability and strengthen confidence in the EPR system.
Municipalities also stand to benefit significantly. Accurate data on recovery rates, collection hotspots and material leakage can improve infrastructure planning, performance-based contracting and landfill diversion strategies. Crucially, traceability systems can make visible the contribution of informal waste pickers, a prerequisite for any serious attempt at integration.
What cannot be measured cannot be governed. Perhaps the most important opportunity lies there. Digital traceability systems can be designed to include informal waste pickers through digital IDs, mobile-based transaction logging and instant payment mechanisms.
Instead of operating at the margins, waste pickers can become recognised participants in the formal recycling economy, generating verified data and receiving transparent compensation.
Visibility enables fairer pricing, access to financial services and participation in EPR-linked incentive schemes. Yet the promise of digital traceability will only be realised if governance comes first. Technology layered onto fragmented institutions risks entrenching existing exclusions.
If traceability platforms are controlled solely by large firms or designed without informal-sector participation, they may simply formalise inequality rather than resolving it. Data ownership, access rights and accountability must be clearly defined within inclusive governance frameworks.
There is also a need for pragmatism. Blockchain is not always necessary; in many cases simpler digital platforms can deliver substantial benefits at lower cost. The focus should be on interoperability, transparency and inclusion, and not on technological branding or pilot projects that never scale. South Africa cannot afford another cycle of innovation theatre.
Globally, experience shows that digital traceability works best when aligned with policy reform, market incentives and co-governance. Countries that have improved recycling outcomes through digital tools did so by first addressing institutional fragmentation and recognising informal actors as system partners.
South Africa’s recycling economy does not lack ambition. It lacks shared visibility. Digital traceability, thoughtfully designed and inclusively governed, can provide that visibility. Without it, EPR risks becoming another compliance exercise detached from reality. With it, the country has an opportunity to build a recycling system that is more efficient, credible and just.
• Fuma is a circular economy researcher and practitioner focused on integrating informal waste pickers into South Africa’s formal recycling economy.
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