The DSTI launched three new, sector-specific Circular Economy Initiatives in 2024/25. The Initiatives are aimed at advancing science, technology and innovation (STI) for a circular economy in South Africa:

• The South African Circular Agriculture Initiative (SACAI) – awarded to UFS
• The South African Circular Manufacturing Initiative (SACMI) – awarded to NCPC-SA
• The South African Circular Minerals and Metals Initiative (SACMMI) – this EoI

Aims

• The DSTI aims to find a suitable host organisation to help drive and coordinate circular economy STI for the minerals and metals sector. The intention of the Circular Economy Initiatives Programme, is to help:
  • Build and strengthen national CE STI capability;
  • Minimize the duplication of CE STI across the NSI, through more coordinated and directed activities;
  • Build new areas of CE STI excellence;
  • Raise the profile of sector-specific CE STI locally and internationally;
  • Use the government seed funding to mobilise additional cofunding to support CE STI;
  • Strengthen CE STI collaboration between NSI institutions and the private sector, for greater impact.

Priority Areas

• The Circular Economy STI Strategy (2024-2034) has identified the following three STI priority areas for the short- to medium-term:
  • Resource Security: Understanding South Africa's minerals and metals resource base for improved resource monitoring and management; supporting national resource security, with a specific focus on critical raw materials (CRMs), linked to resource cadastres.
  • Resource Efficiency: Driving greater circularity within mining operations, including reducing the demand for resources in mining operations (energy, water, materials); precision-mining, with the aim of reducing the generation of mining waste during extraction. This includes designing and optimising process steps with the aim of decreasing resource use and waste.
  • Diversifying Sources: Strengthening alternative, local sources of minerals and metals through, for example, developing downstream industries that recover value from tailings, residue stockpiles and other mining waste; and growing local recovery and recycling of minerals and metals from municipal and industrial waste streams, such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), lighting, end-of-life vehicles and associated components, and other mining equipment.

Funding Information

• An initial amount of R1,500,000 (excl. VAT) will be transferred to the successful host organisation upon finalization of contracting. This funding will be for a one-year period, from the date of last signature of the grant contract.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Organisations:
  • To be eligible for consideration as the host of a Circular Economy Initiative, the applying organisation must be a public research organisation, e.g., a South African University, Science Council or other public research institution. Business, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), other private sector organisations are not eligible to apply to host a Circular Economy Initiative.
• Capability, Experience and Expertise:
  • The organisation must detail the technical and programme management expertise that it brings to this initiative:
    • Demonstrate a track record in the administration of, and/or research in, circular minerals and metals projects. A track record of longer than five years in circular minerals and metals administration and/or research would be advantageous.
    • Demonstrate having the necessary systems and capabilities in place to support the rapid implementation of the South African Circular Minerals and Metals Initiative (SACMMI) in South Africa.

Evaluation Criteria

• All proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria:
  • Public research organisation
  • Organisational capability (team strength)
  • Alignment with organisational strategy
  • Staff member for admin/technical lead
  • Collaborative network/partnerships
  • Relevant project/programme experience
  • Co-funding which could contribute to this
  • Organisational experience in this technical field (years)

Application Requirements

• The naming/labelling syntax of EoI files must be short and simple.
• An EoI will only be considered if received by the CSIR before the closing date and time (as indicated on the cover page of this document). No late proposals will be accepted.
• All dates and times in this Call are South African Standard Time (SAST).
• Email submissions are to be clearly subject-referenced with the EOI number and EOI Description (as indicated on the cover page of this document).
• The EoI must be signed by a person or persons duly authorised by the submitting organisation.
• An EoI submitted to an incorrect location and/or address, will not be accepted for consideration.
• An EoI submitted via cloud solutions such as: WeTransfer, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. will not be considered.

For more information, visit DSTI.