Plastic packaging recycling and producer responsibility organisation Polyco has launched a new mobile Packa-Ching recycling unit, which will be used by recycling company Trash2Treasure Recycling and Waste Management.

The Packa-Ching network consists of 62 trailers nationally and pays communities directly for plastic and other recyclables they collect, with all volumes recorded through the WeighPay platform.

To date, the project has paid more than R57-million to participating communities and diverted over 45-million kilogrammes of recyclable material from landfill.

Trash2Treasure serves communities in Ekurhuleni and Soweto. It serves households, schools and businesses, creating income opportunities for women, youth and waste reclaimers.

The new unit builds on the company's proven track record, and adds capacity to an enterprise that already collects significant volumes from multiple sites, and has earned the trust of the community it serves, Polyco says.

This latest mobile unit was sponsored by energy and chemicals company Sasol. It brings paid recycling collection directly into low-income communities.

Trash2Treasure was founded by Nokuthula Tshabalala in 2014 and registered in 2018.

Women do much of the day-to-day work of collecting, sorting and recovering recyclable material, often informally and with limited access to equipment, finance and formal markets, Polyco says.

Women-led enterprises, like Trash2Treasure, show what can be achieved when that work is recognised and supported. This shift to support women-led enterprises is reflected across Polyco's wider enterprise-development work, the organisation says.

“Women are the backbone of the recycling economy, collecting, sorting and recovering material long before anyone thought to invest in them,” says Polyco CEO Patricia Pillay.

In 2025, Polyco invested R22-million through its enterprise-development value chain to support 23 small and medium-sized projects, 14 of them women-owned. Of the 62 Packa-Ching trailers that have been funded, 21 are women-owned.

“As a woman entrepreneur in the recycling sector, Nokuthula works closely with waste reclaimers, creates income opportunities and inspires youth and women to see waste as a valuable resource rather than a problem,” Pillay says.

Targeted investments can meaningfully shift South Africa's recycling and circular economy by backing the women and communities already doing the work on the ground, she notes.

“The Packa-Ching trailer marks a major milestone for our organisation. For years, we've worked to show that recycling can create real opportunities for our community,” says Tshabalala.

“This trailer will help us support more waste reclaimers, expand our collection services and strengthen the recycling initiatives we've built with local residents.

“It also allows us the opportunity to reach more schools, including schools for the deaf across South Africa, which helps youth see that protecting the environment can also create livelihoods and build stronger communities,” she says.