Q & A: FIBRE CIRCLE
How can EPR initiatives be enhanced to create more opportunities for women and youth? The next phase of EPR should move beyond collection targets towards deliberate economic inclusion. This means creating procurement opportunities for womenowned businesses, supporting youth entrepreneurship, investing in digital platforms that improve market access, expanding technical skills development, and ensuring that funding reaches grassroots enterprises.
EPR can become a catalyst for green jobs if inclusion becomes a core performance indicator rather than an unintended outcome.
How has your own entrepreneurial experience influenced how you support women-led SMMEs? Entrepreneurship teaches you that access to opportunity is often more important than access to funding alone. Entrepreneurs need markets, networks, mentorship, and supportive ecosystems. I see women-led enterprises as strategic business partners capable of driving innovation, creating employment, and strengthening local circular economies. Our role is to remove barriers so that these businesses can become sustainable participants within the recycling value chain.
As National Waste Management Strategy 2026 approaches, how is Fibre Circle positioning itself to move recycling beyond compliance and toward broader impact? We see EPR as much more than a compliance mechanism. Our strategic focus is to demonstrate how EPR can contribute to national priorities such as economic inclusion and sustainable urban development. This includes investing in better waste data, supporting municipal partnerships, strengthening buy-back centres, integrating informal waste reclaimers into formal systems, promoting eco-design and recyclability, and increasing public participation through education.
Success should not only be measured by the tonnes of recyclable material collected but also by the number of livelihoods improved, businesses created, and communities empowered.
How do women leaders impact stakeholder engagements and collaboration? One of the greatest strengths many women leaders bring is the ability to build trust while balancing diverse interests. In the EPR space, progress demands collaboration across industry, government, municipalities, communities, and the informal sector. Through inclusion, listening, and relationship‐building, women foster respect for different perspectives and collective solutions. The future of sustainability leadership will depend less on authority and more on the ability to connect people around shared purpose.
What are the top three highlights of your journey as CEO of Fibre Circle? Firstly, building Fibre Circle into a trusted strategic partner across industry, government, and civil society.
Secondly, helping reposition EPR as a vehicle for both environmental sustainability and socio-economic development, particularly through waste picker integration and municipal collaboration.
Thirdly, seeing our programmes create real impact, from schools and communities embracing recycling to strengthening the paper recycling value chain and contributing to South Africa’ s circular economy.
These achievements have been possible because of incredible team commitment and industry partnerships.
Which leadership lesson has most shaped you, and how might it guide women entering leadership roles? Leadership is not about having all the answers, it is about having the courage to ask the right questions, to listen deeply, and to remain authentic even when faced with difficult decisions.
Early in my career, I believed leadership meant proving yourself. Today, I believe it is all about enabling others to succeed.
Never underestimate the value of your unique perspective. Lead with competence, integrity, and purpose. Build relationships, stay curious, embrace lifelong learning, and never allow fear or self-doubt to define the size of your ambition.
The world needs more women who lead not by changing who they are, but by confidently bringing their authentic selves to the table. � sabusinessintegrator. co. za 23