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In many African cities, a broken fridge is rarely thrown away immediately. It may be repaired and resold, dismantled for spare parts or collected for its metal components.

Old clothes are often altered or transformed into something new. Leftover crop stalks and leaves are turned into animal feed, compost, cooking fuel or biogas.

These activities are often driven by need. Incomes are limited and it's expensive to replace appliances or worn-out clothes. Sometimes recycling also happens because of unreliable waste collection.

These are also examples of a circular economy . This is where products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible. It's the opposite of a system where resources are extracted from nature and turned into goods that are sold, used and eventually thrown away.

We are circular economy specialists who look at how recycling and repair practices are already part of everyday economic activity across Africa.…