A community-run recycling project
Every bottle put down here gets picked back up by someone who lives here.
Nqala Recycling Project collects glass and bottles from local homes, schools and shops, and turns them back into raw material instead of landfill — with our neighbours doing the collecting, sorting and selling.
Why it matters
Glass and bottles pile up fast — behind shops, along roadsides, in the same ground people grow food on. Most of it is entirely recyclable. It just needs somewhere to go, and someone to take it there.
Nqala Recycling Project exists to be that link. We set up simple, reliable collection points close to where people already are, and we pay local collectors fairly for what they bring in. The bottles go back into use. The money stays close to home.
We're not asking people to change their lives. We're asking them to put the bottle in a different place — and making it worth their while.
How a bottle moves through Nqala
Four steps, all handled locally, from someone's kitchen counter back into a new bottle, jar or window.
Collect
Households, shebeens, schools and shops set bottles aside at marked drop-off points around the area.
Sort
Local collectors sort glass by colour and clear it of caps, labels and anything that isn't glass.
Weigh and pay
Every load is weighed on the spot, and collectors are paid there and then — no waiting, no middlemen.
Send for reuse
Sorted glass is sent to processors who melt it down into new bottles, jars and building material.
Told by the people doing it
Nqala only works because local people show up for it — as collectors, hosts of drop-off points, and everyday recyclers.
I used to see bottles thrown out behind the tavern every week. Now I collect them twice a week and it covers my transport money.
We host a bin outside our shop. Customers know exactly where their empties go now, instead of the bin out back.
The kids at our school started a class competition to see who could bring the most bottles in a month. It's become a whole thing.
Ways to take part
However much time you have, there's a way in — as someone who recycles, someone who collects, or someone who hosts a point.
Just start recycling
Keep your bottles and glass separate at home and drop them at your nearest point whenever it suits you.
- Rinse bottles, remove caps and lids
- No need to remove paper labels
- Drop off any day, points are always open
Become a collector
Turn regular collecting into income. We supply crates, a scale visit schedule, and pay per kilogram on the day.
- No experience or vehicle required to start
- Paid on the spot at every weigh-in
- Work as little or as much as suits you