- Circular Rising
- Posts
- The mining industry's bet on precious metals recycling
The mining industry's bet on precious metals recycling
Dear subscriber,
The way industries secure the resources they need is beginning to change. As demand for precious metals grows and traditional supply models face new pressures, Africa's mining sector is rethinking where future materials will come from and what that could mean for the next phase of industry growth.
Mercy Maina – Editor
 | As demand for precious metals grows, mining companies are turning to recycling to secure secondary supplies and strengthen resource security. South African mining company Sibanye-Stillwater has consolidated three recycling businesses into a single global platform, signalling how recycling is becoming part of mainstream mining strategy. |
Precious metals—including gold, silver and platinum group metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium—are important to electronics, automotive manufacturing, industrial processes and clean energy technologies, making reliable supplies a growing strategic priority.
Recycling is becoming a strategic complement to primary mining as companies seek to diversify supplies of precious metals and reduce reliance on newly extracted resources. .
Our take: Future competitiveness will also depend on recovering valuable metals already circulating in the economy… Read more (2 min)
 | Despite continued infrastructure investment across Africa, Andrew Foote of Sanivation says many sludge treatment plants struggle to remain operational after commissioning. He attributes this largely to procurement practices prioritising asset delivery over long-term outcomes, and calls for outcome-based contracts incentivising sustained sanitation services. |
Mr Foote is a strategic advisor and board member at Sanivation, a Kenya-based venture-backed sanitation project developer that partners with local governments to deploy waste-to-energy plants and deliver sanitation services.
“The future of sanitation infrastructure will depend not only on who builds treatment plants, but on who is accountable for ensuring they continue working 10, 15, or 20 years later,” he says.
Read the full opinion article here (2 min)
 | Circularity initiatives across the continent obtained an estimated $3.9 million in external funding in June, making it the third-lowest monthly funding total so far this year and well below the January–May monthly average of $132.7 million. Deal activity was equally subdued, with only three transactions recorded across North and East Africa. |
Egypt accounted for two of the three deals, attracting an estimated $3.7 million, while Ethiopia recorded the remaining venture investment worth $200,000.
Funding was evenly split across debt, grant and venture capital, supporting recycling, e-waste management and alternative fuels through public initiatives and circular economy startups.
Our take: Waste management continues to present some of the strongest investable opportunities within Africa's circular economy…Read more (2 min)
___________________
Source: KEPRO
Plastic waste-filled billboard in Nairobi to raise awareness about waste management
Events
🤝 Participate in SA’s CE & Economic Transformation Conference (Aug 21)
📦 Sign up for the 6th Africa International E-Waste Conference in Kenya (Oct 15)
🪪 Network at WasteCon 2026 in South Africa (Oct 20)
Jobs
👷 Work as a Production Lead at Geocycle (Egypt)
🧕 Lead agrochemical waste management efforts at UNDP (DR Congo)
🤹 Analyse data at Compass Medical Waste Services (South Africa)
🧑⚕️ Protect employee’s health and safety at Interwaste (S. Africa)
🧕 Supervise waste management operations at Interwaste (S.Africa)
Various
🏍️ Dar's Institute of Technology turns plastic waste into motorcycle spare parts
✉️ CirculaRise Accelerator in Kenya applications open
💧 Can wastewater reuse help solve South Africa's water crisis?
👍 Africa has always been circular, let's just step up now
♻️ TUT student innovator turns agricultural waste into award-winning ‘biomulchies’
🔩 Global waste equipment market size to grow from $51b in 2025 to $77b by 2035
Seen on LinkedIn
Shanariha Evans, a 14-year-old Kenyan climate change advocate , says, “A banana comes with its own protective peel. An orange has a natural wrapper. A cucumber doesn’t need to be sliced and sealed in plastic to stay fresh. Yet convenience has led us to create mountains of single-use plastic for products that were already perfectly packaged by nature.”