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From mining impact to environmental solutions

02 January 2024 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen | Photo Chris Nelson

Dr Maryam Amra Jordaan, co-founded SA Rebuilders.

Only 16% of plastic gets recycled in South Africa, despite technological advancements. While the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulation of 2021 assigns post-consumer recycling responsibility to producers, substantial efforts are needed to develop effective waste management strategies, heighten public awareness, discover practical solutions, and hold plastic-producing companies accountable.

Prioritising environmental sustainability

Dr Maryam Amra Jordaan co-founded SA Rebuilders with her husband, Yasar Amra, in 2016. By combining 3D printing, chemistry, and plastic recycling, they tackle socio-economic issues while prioritising environmental sustainability. As the daughter of a miner from Kimberley, Dr Jordaan is committed to mitigating the negative effects that industries have on the health, environment, and social aspects of local communities. She was honoured with an Alumni Cum Laude Award from the University of the Free State (UFS) for her work in this regard.

Dr Jordaan’s academic journey at the UFS from 2001 to 2013 includes a BSc in Chemistry and Physiology, BSc Honours, MSc, and a PhD in Organic Chemistry. She dedicated five years to lecturing and research on the Qwaqwa Campus and four years at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). During this time, she authored 19 pharmaceutical and environmental chemistry research papers and won numerous national and international awards. She entered the UFS with dreams of assisting in some way and ended up helping to solve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Remarkable potential for rapid prototyping and supply chain resilience through digitisation exists, but the current energy crisis hampers the full realisation of 3D printing’s potential,” Dr Jordaan explains. Added to this, is the complex endeavour of becoming a 3D engineer. “Expertise in materials science and project management is equally essential. Creativity, quick learning, and meticulous attention to detail are all characteristics necessary to excel as a 3D engineer.”

Seeking out biodegradable product alternatives

Dr Jordaan stresses the need for effective waste management, awareness, practical solutions, and accountability for individuals and plastic-producing companies. Therefore, she promotes reusable and recyclable shopping bags, among others, and instils this behaviour in her children. The Amras actively seek out biodegradable product alternatives, as they are fully aware of the environmental impact of the manufacturing industry.

They incorporated this ideology in the manufacturing process of organic butter by transforming the plastic waste from this process into a 3D filament. This product is currently undergoing SABS testing, after which it will be available to the local market.

News Archive

Prestige scholar, Oliver Mutanga, to continue research at University of Pavia through CICOPS scholarship

2014-12-19

Oliver Mutanga has been awarded a 2015 CICOPS scholarship – one of only ten researchers world-wide to be afforded this opportunity. The scholarship enables Mutanga to visit the University of Pavia in Italy from January to March next year to expand his research.

As a second-year PhD student taking part in the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme, Mutanga is well on his way to achieve his goal of becoming an internationally-recognised scholar. He is currently conducting his research at our Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development under the supervision of Prof Melanie Walker and Dr Lis Lange. In his PhD, Mutanga examines the processes through which disabled students make their educational choices and negotiate different socio-cultural and institutional structures in higher education.

During his stay in Italy, Mutanga will work with Prof Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti on the intersectionality of disability, disadvantage and other social variables. “I will also present lectures and seminars on my PhD work at Pavia University and meet with other young capabilities approach scholars,” Mutanga says.

There is a growing acknowledgement nationally and internationally that there is limited data and understanding of the framing on disability issues. As such, data on the experiences of disabled students in higher education is important and timely in preparation of the Post 2015 Development Agenda.

Mutanga’s preliminary analysis challenges the popular discourse that is so common in South African higher education debates that they receive unprepared students into their institutions. The data seems to indicate the opposite, though: that it might be the institutions that are underprepared to receive diverse students. The study advocates for a capabilities-based conception of student equity that focuses on the widening of opportunities for all students within higher education to pursue what they have reason to value.

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