Press release 2 December 2020
Two schools in Phagameng, Maokeng Primary and Modimolle Primary, were each blessed with school benches for 50 students.
I identified the two schools based on my conversation with the two individual principals during a visit in September. I was also limited to schools in Phagameng but will be able to assist schools in Mookgophong, Vaalwater and other areas in 2021.
The desk and chair combination was donated by a company called Solving 7.
Solving 7 is a non-profit company that has been set up by Sophia Ladha and Nabila Wissanji. They are 100% female owned and their mandate is to:
- Clean the Environment – remove multilayer plastics (that are referred to as #7) from the environment and prevent it from ending up in landfills, incinerators, and the oceans.
- Recyling – create sustainable end use products such as the “green desk” for under resourced schools across South Africa.
- Job Creation – increase and create job opportunities along the whole waste value chain.
Their vision lies in empowering more women throughout the whole waste value chain.
The “green desks and chairs” that were donated are made from multi-layer plastics that cannot be easily or cost effectively recycled as the separation of these multiple layers of plastic is extremely difficult, time consuming and costly.
Solving 7 has partnered with various stakeholders to achieve its mandate.
Their stakeholders include:
Phambili Services – a leading BEE accredited integrated waste management solutions company that operates several material waste recovery facilities where recyclables are sorted and baled into the appropriate commodity as part of the recycling model. Phambili Services sources the multi-layer plastics from informal waste pickers and household waste and supplies this to Solving 7.
RWPA Solutions – a specialist recycling company that has developed a ground-breaking solution for converting multi-layer plastics into recylets.
Unique Plastic Timbers – a company that converts the recylet into the “green school desks” which are then delivered to identified schools.
Solving 7 has just delivered “green school desks” for 100 school children in Modimolle and Moekeng Primary Schools in Modimolle Limpopo Province and hopes to deliver thousands more while picking up hundreds of tons of multilayer plastic waste and litter from the environment and creating jobs in the whole waste value chain at the same time.
For more enquiries regarding Solving 7 please contact:
Sophia Ladha – +27-82-3030-4040 Email: sophia@solving7.green
Nabila Wissanji – +27-83-738-5963 Email: nabila@solving7.green
Mayor Marlene van Staden
