A South African entrepreneur set up a company Cubic38 specializing in scrap tire reuse; Mzokhona Maxase’s idea is to use recycled tires to make shine and shoe polish products. To create his merchandise, Maxase relies on char – a by-product of waste tire recycling.

Mzokhona Maxase tells about his business idea of using char, a product of tire pyrolysis, for shoe polishing | Video: courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool.

Speaking about the creation of his start-up, the entrepreneur revealed that the company was set up in 2017 and it was seeking an objective – to find green solutions to scrap tire problem, which poses serious risk to the environment in South Africa.

The idea to use char to create shoe polish hadn’t come at once; prior to that, Maxase and his team conducted various tests with char to see what products with the tire derived material could be created. He also noted that his young team and he himself lacked any experience within the tire industry, thus, the ambitious aspiring businessmen had to learn everything from scratch.

He also highlighted that sales have improved as consumers are quite happy with his product and provide positive feedback about his shoe polish.

Notably, Maxase stressed the power of entrepreneurship as a way to tackle social problems noting further that he and his team “should try our best to set good examples and create a conducive environment for other young and upcoming entrepreneurs.”

Article by Redbull and BizCommunity.