Grace period for recycling buyback centres to register for accreditation
04 July 2025
The City of Cape Town advises all recycling buyback centres to register for accreditation before 31 July in order to avoid a fine. Residents and businesses that make use of buyback centres are also encouraged to be responsible and make sure to check the accreditation status of facilities they use.
Recycling buyback centres play a vital role in Cape Town’s circular economy. These are the businesses that buy recyclables from waste-pickers and recycling service providers, helping to keep valuable materials out of landfills while supporting informal and formal jobs across the city.
To ensure that these operations are safe, environmentally responsible and accountable, the City of Cape Town requires them to be accredited in terms of the Integrated Waste Management (IWM) By-law.
What is waste accreditation – and why does it matter?
Accreditation is a registration process that gives anyone who transports waste in Cape Town formal recognition by the City. The registration and approval process ensures that recycling, sorting and waste recovery activities at private facilities that handle waste meet basic environmental and operational standards.
This system is designed to:
• Promote public health and environmental safety;
• Enable better oversight of waste flows;
• Support equitable and transparent participation in the waste economy;
• Ensure facilities report how much waste they help divert from landfills.
The data collected through this system also helps the City plan more effectively and target support where it’s needed most to grow the City’s circular economy.
Buyback centres must register before 31 July to avoid penalties
According to Section 13(3) of the IWM by-law, the requirement to register for accreditation applies to any person who undertakes a recycling, re-use, processing, treatment or recovery activity or who sorts waste, including scrap dealers, buyback centres and formalised recycling groups. If approved, their accreditation will entitle them to perform such activities.
While the requirement to register has been in place for some time, the City is currently offering a grace period until 31 July 2025 for buyback centres to comply without facing penalties.
After this date, facilities that are operating without accreditation may receive fines for non-compliance with the IWM By-law.
‘The accreditation process is about building trust, improving standards, and working together for a cleaner, more sustainable Cape Town,’ said Alderman Grant Twigg, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management.
Facilities that are already accredited are reminded that they must regularly report on the volumes of waste they handle and how much is diverted from landfills, in line with their obligations.
To apply for accreditation or find out more, visit capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Register/Business-and-trade/Register-as-an-accredited-waste-services-provider , or contact the Urban Waste Management Directorate via wastewise@capetown.gov.za .
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
