It’s an awareness of plastic pollution that led Kekeletso, 32, and her older sister, Kedibone, 32, to break new ground in South Africa’s construction industry with their eco-friendly bricks.
Kekeletso Tsiloane has always been “very OCD” about litter. “I’m one of those people where, if I see somebody litter in front of me, I’ll pick it up and give it back to them to dispose of properly,” says the 28-year-old.that led Kekeletso and her older sister, Kedibone, 32, to break new ground in South Africa’s construction industry with their eco-friendly bricks.
Together, the sisters founded Ramtsilo Manufacturing and Construction, a 100% black, female-owned company and their ecobricks are being used in residential, industrial and commercial projects. This continued for years but, says Kekeletso: “We didn’t understand at the time what was being cultivated. It was only in 2013, when our father registered a construction business for us, that we started being a bit more active in the business.”
“So we picked up that there is actually value that is created from recycling plastic and that there’s something we can also do to contribute to the reduction of plastic waste. But we didn’t want to stray from what we knew, which was construction.” By 2017, they had a product they were comfortable with. “We took it for testing because we wanted to make sure that it’s fit for purpose. Ultimately we wanted to manufacture a brick, which is going to build either a school or a home and had to make sure that it had structural integrity.
The company works with more than 50 waste pickers in the Free State and on the East Rand, who supply some of the plastic. The remainder is collected from waste management companies and packaging corporations.
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