City of Cape Town awarded Medal of Honour for Urban Innovation

The City of Cape Town bagged a huge achievement after being awarded a Medal of Honour in the fifth Guangzhou International Awards, which recognises the innovation that improves social, economic and environmental solutions in cities and regions.

The City received this accolade for its partnership with the Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP), delivered by GreenCape.

“The City-funded programme was recognised for developing mutually profitable links between companies across industrial sectors, so that under-utilised and waste resources from one business can be recovered, reprocessed and re-used by others,” the statement read.

This allows participating businesses to not only cut costs, but also to improve processes, and create new revenue streams and job opportunities while positively impacting the environment through the re-purposing of waste.

“I am exceptionally proud that the City’s partnership with and funding of GreenCape for the implementation of WISP has resulted in a successful model of economic and environmental sustainability and that it is receiving a deserving level of global recognition,” said Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.

The City was shortlisted in the Top 15 earlier this year, out of 273 initiatives from 175 cities and local governments in 60 countries and regions.

Over the last eight years, WISP has resulted in:

• 119 000 tonnes of waste diverted from landfills;
• 362 000 fossil greenhouse gas emissions saved (equivalent to the annual electrical usage of 46 600 households in SA);
• Over R134 million generated in financial benefits (additional revenue, cost savings and private investments);
• 69 permanent jobs in member companies, as well as 25 temporary positions, and 265 economy-wide jobs in supply chains have been created.

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Picture: Instagram @funlifedesignlab

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