From left to right: CSIR Hosted Programme Impact Area Manager, Bongani Memela, Sonke (Pty) Ltd Founder and Managing Director Eben de Jongh and DSTI Deputy Director-General (DDG) for Socio-Economic Innovation Partnership Dr Mmboneni Muofhe.
The concept store allows customers to refill essential groceries such as cooking oil, maize meal, sugar and cleaning products using their own containers, reducing the need for single-use plastics. This model also helps low-income households save money, with potential savings up to 50% thanks to standardised per-litre pricing across refill sizes.
Skubu was designed to eliminate up to 100% of single-use plastic packaging and is part of a broader push to promote circular economy practices in South Africa.
Technology partner Sonke, designs, manufactures and manages IoT-enabled automated refill stations underpinned by proprietary back-end software. This system provides full traceability across the supply chain, from receipt and dispatch, to machine restocking and sale to the shopper.
Professor Linda Godfrey, a principal researcher at the CSIR and lead of Circular Innovation South Africa, said the project exemplifies the value of collaborative innovation.
“Skubu is a great demonstration initiative to show how circular economy principles can be implemented through collaboration. The intention is to focus on the national system of innovation, which looks at how a country creates and applies new ideas to improve technology and grow its economy. This includes bringing universities and science councils closer to the private sector to help de-risk and scale circular interventions,” Godfrey concluded.
Lungile is the Digital Editor for TechAfrica, with a knack for storytelling, technology and innovative ideas. Working with TechAfrica, she takes simple ideas and turns them into amazing stories.
Lungile Msomi
