From Linear to Circular captures, using Marsh’s unique lens and perspective, the ongoing development of three flagship pilot projects: RE-Imagine Tomorrow in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni; carbon capture in Hammanskraal, Pretoria; and Africa’s first net-zero dairy farm in George. These projects are near completion of their pilot stage, and their success is key to Nestlé’s fundamental shift towards embracing circular principles across its operations.

Speaking on the exhibition, and the initiatives, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director, Saint-Francis Tohlang, said, “This exhibition is an exciting venture as it stretches us in the ways we tell meaningful stories about our sustainability commitments in South Africa and the rest of ESAR. These pilot projects have been online for over a year and this exhibition is one way of keeping track with each initiative’s development. By capturing these initiatives in a moment in time, we hope it will spark robust dialogue on principles of circularity. Each of the initiatives profiled in the body of work speaks to three principles: rethink, reduce and repurpose, and these are values that our communities in the region espouse. As Nestlé ESAR, we have scaled them for a bigger impact that can make a meaningful difference to our planet.”

RE-Imagine Tomorrow is a partnership with informal waste reclaimers; waste buy-back centre, Destination Green; and technology partner, Kudoti to evolve the waste management sub-sector. Since its launch in September 2021, the initiative has developed a playbook that has formalised data collection at buy-back centres, while empowering waste reclaimers through training, capacity building, and incentives. To date, working with 150 reclaimers, a total of 188 tonnes of waste has been collected and some of it has been sustainably processed to make dustbins that have been installed in Tembisa.

In George, Skimmelkrans Boerdery is well on its way to being Africa’s first net zero dairy farm. The pilot uses regenerative agriculture practises to trap and reduce emissions, save water, reduce energy, while increasing milk quality and productivity. Using mixed pastures increased soil carbon by an average of 0.11% in the first year, which relates to 4,723 tonnes CO₂ sequestration from the atmosphere on the 600-hectare farm. Manure management through the screw press separator prevents 500 tonnes of carbon from escaping into the atmosphere annually. Active water conservation measures at Skimmelkrans save 292,500 kilolitres a year through irrigation, and 21,900 kilolitres a year through recycling.

In Hammanskraal, at the Babelegi factory, is the industry-first carbon capture technology that draws fumes from manufacturing processes and converts them to bicarbonate of soda and water. The initiative is in partnership with the Emissions Capture Company and pending its imminent success, will be rolled out to manufacturing facilities across the region. Based on the pilot’s data, rollout of the technology will prevent 5,516 tonnes of carbon dioxide from escaping to the atmosphere, 9,284m³ potable water will be saved annually at a typical factory.

Speaking on the body of work, artist Dillon Marsh said, “Capturing landscapes has been part of my creative language and I have explored in many works, elements that show how we as a species engage both deliberately and unintentionally with our environment. For this exhibition, I have introduced computer-generated imagery to reveal underlying dynamics that can’t be illustrated with photography alone. And these are real data points from the initiatives themselves, making them more tangible and almost palpable in the storytelling.”

The opening coincides with similar campaigns in other parts of the east and southern Africa region. In Kenya, a school clean-up programme aimed at driving stewardship around waste management in schools was launched on the same day. In Mauritius, a beach clean-up is set to be hosted on World Oceans Day, driving a similar message on waste management.

“The initiatives profiled in the exhibition are tracking well, and once this pilot phase is concluded, they will be scaled in South Africa and in due course, across the region. That is a fundamental shift our business will be taking, with the aim of evolving to circular principles from the creation of raw materials, all the way to the management of waste after consumption. And this body of work captures the illustrative levers of that shift. Therefore, we hope South Africa will engage with this exhibition extensively, as the world commemorates sustainability under the theme #OnlyOneEarth,” concluded Tohlang.

Distributed by African Media Agency on behalf of Nestle.