“Walker’s Recycling turns waste into livelihoods — giving value to what others throw away.”
Challenging the Carbon Market Status Quo
Credible Carbon was started in 2004 with the goal of helping small-scale, poverty-alleviating projects access revenue from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). At the time, we were called the Promoting Access to Carbon Equity (PACE) Centre. Our mission, however, proved more challenging than expected. The biggest barrier in Africa was not a lack of environmental integrity, but rather the inability of poor communities to access carbon markets—mainly due to high up-front transaction costs and long delays in credit issuance.
The carbon market has traditionally been shaped by layers of complexity that favour high-cost consultants. We wanted to challenge that norm. More specifically, we wanted to know if deliberate efforts could build carbon markets that are both rigorous enough for buyers and simple (and quick) enough for projects. Over time, we’ve demonstrated that it can.
A project that exemplifies this success is Walkers Recycling.
No such thing as waste
Brothers Eddie and Christopher Walker were out of work in 2011 but had the idea that some of the material they saw piling up in night-club dustbins on Sunday morning might be valuable. They took the back seat out of their Opel Cub, drove into town at sunrise just as the city’s revellers were exiting, and began collecting bottles and cans, sorting it in their mother’s backyard and selling it to industrial waste recyclers.
They approached Credible Carbon for help in 2013 having heard about us from Nokwanda Sotyantya at the Hout Bay Recycling Cooperative in Imizamo Yethu. The first task was to ‘decriminalise’ the operation by getting a waste handling license, they then had to move out of their mother’s yard in a residential neighbourhood because their work was attracting complaints from the neighbours. Fifteen years after they started, Walkers Recycling now owns a large industrial site in Retreat that hums with machines and people sorting, baling, and dispatching all types of recyclable materials that would otherwise go to Cape Town’s overflowing landfills.
Walkers Recycling’s success is attributable to the vision and grit of Eddie, Chris and their team. Credible Carbon has been able to support their growth through the sale of 18,532 credits since their first issuance in 2014.
In the last year alone, Walkers Recycling:
- Upgraded baling equipment to increase efficiency and reduce electricity use.
- Optimised transport routes to cut diesel consumption.
- Shifted from a delivery-based model to one where off-takers collect directly from site, saving both time and emissions.
4,519 Tonnes of CO₂ Saved
The Credible Carbon registry only sells credits that have been shown to be Additional, Measurable and Permanent and supported by Excellent Data.
Empowering Communities
The Cape Town-based family business not only diverts waste from landfill, saves landfill emissions and generates paid work for waste pickers and sorters, but it has also empowered local communities. Through a partnership with Intercape’s Love Out Loud initiative, local youth sort and sell recyclables from bus routes, using the proceeds to provide meals for vulnerable families.
The company supports 15 ‘buy-back’ centres and receives material from an average of 40 informal waste collectors every day — ensuring stable livelihoods for people often excluded from formal employment.
