Narrator: PVC is one of the most common plastics
in the world.
And even though this material can be recycled
over and over again,
it often isn't.
That's what inspired these two sisters
to launch their own business.
Their employees heat pipes over an open flame,
cut them into strips,
and then weave them into high-end home goods.
It's like a gold mine for us when we get there
and we see this heap of broken pipes
that we're actually able to use
and put it into good use.
Narrator: So if PVC is such a versatile plastic,
why do we recycle so little of it?
We went to South Africa to find out how this business
makes modern housewares out of worldwide waste.
Mo is the artist behind Mo's Crib.
It's not painted. They actually dye it.
Narrator: While her sister Michelle runs
the business side of things.
Michelle: We are actually both Mo.
My African name is Moshibudi, which is an M-O.
And my sister's African name is Morongwe.
And our surname also happens to be M-O, Mokone.
So it really made sense for us to call it Mo's Crib.
Narrator: Mo and Michelle get most of their raw material
from the wholesale company Sizabantu Piping.
Mo sorts through piles of broken PVC pipes sent
to the scrap heap before they were even sold.
Mo: Like this, that will definitely never be used
for its sole purpose, for water or sewerage, etc.
So I can actually take this one.
Narrator: And even though these are junk
for construction companies,
they're the right amount of broken for Mo and and Michelle.
Mo: It's like this defect right here is exactly
what we're looking for.
We love this sort of pipe.
So we'll definitely be taking this.
Narrator: These pipes travel over eight hours
by truck to this wholesale lot in Pretoria.
Now during transit, there is some pipes that gets damaged
while loading or offloading.
So those pipes cannot be used again.
Narrator: Instead, they're set aside for Mo.
But it's taken them time to build that trust.
Michelle: So when you're calling as a woman wanting pipes,
you're not taken seriously.
That's what we've experienced, actually.
Narrator: The sisters took strength
from their late mother's words.
There's something that she always used to say.
She'd say that we must stand up and say, "Here am I."
And that is truly who we are.
Linesh: You can just go round through to the guys.
They will get your pipe.
Mo: All right, you'll be helping me with six pipes
that I'm going to choose today.
So we can go.
This one is really good.
Hold on, Let me see.
Narrator: These pipes are 6 meters long,
so workers cut them down to more manageable sizes.
Pipes from PVC, short for polyvinyl chloride,
are hard and durable.
But they can be heated and reshaped without losing strength.
And even a simple bonfire will be enough to do it.
Mo: The pipe comes in contact with the fire.
This is to make it so that it softens.
Narrator: Innocent Mangove, nicknamed Frans,
worked as a plumber before this,
installing pipes similar to the ones
he now makes into baskets.
Narrator: He spins the pipe
over the flame until it weakens
into a workable texture.
This part of the process could expose workers
to harmful fumes, but the company told us
they plan on switching to an enclosed oven sometime in 2023.
With the aid of a box cutter,
he then ties one end of the now floppy pipe to an anchor.
Narrator: Then Frans walks backwards,
all in one smooth, skillful motion,
slicing it into thin strips almost as long
as the entire yard.
The strips are now ready for weaving.
Mo: But before we weave,
we have to then create a frame for the basket.
Narrator: Frans has been weaving baskets
for over a decade.
Narrator: He's one of the company's
11 full-time employees.
Narrator: It takes 1 meter of pipe to finish a planter.
The laundry basket requires 2 meters of pipe.
That makes each basket a one-off creation.
Narrator: Chemists discovered PVC in the 19th century
after exposing vinyl chloride gas to sunlight.
Within a century, production of all things PVC exploded.
TV announcer: This is polyvinyl chloride,
a synthetic resinous material
converted from vinyl chloride gas.
And it's the basis for thousands of plastic products.
Narrator: It's sturdy and waterproof,
but has a low melting point.
It's used in construction,
vinyl records, clear IV bags, even clothing.
At one point, PVC was hyped as a space-age material.
TV announcer: Suitable for the best-dressed ladies
in the year 2000.
Narrator: We make about 60 million metric tons
of PVC every year,
and about a third of that winds up in pipes.
But some of the things that make them so functional
also make them hard to recycle.
PVC pipes used to contain harmful additives
like lead and cadmium,
which can contaminate other plastics headed for recycling.
So they need to be separated.
Many large producers voluntarily removed a number
of these harmful elements before 2015,
but most countries don't outright ban them.
These pipes can be used for up to 100 years.
Many of the ones ready for retirement
still contain those dangerous chemicals.
So a lot ends up in landfills.
Mo and Michelle need pipes of a certain thickness
for their weaving process.
Too thin, and they're not strong enough
to withstand weaving.
Too thick, and they're too hard to cut properly.
So for years, as they collected pipes,
Mo and Michelle also stumbled upon hundreds
they couldn't use.
That made it harder for the sisters to expand.
As the business continued growing,
and the demand was more,
we needed to find alternative sources.
Narrator: So they partnered with the pipe manufacturer
Kusasa Mining Pressure Systems in 2019.
Here, discarded pipes of nearly any size can be recycled
into exactly what the sisters need.
Michelle: You can bring any type of pipe, no matter the color.
And it actually goes through a regranulation process.
Narrator: The granulator pulverizes
the original pipes into a fine powder.
Narrator: Kusasa adds wax and lead-free stabilizers
to the mix, just like it does when it's making new,
or virgin, PVC pipes.
Workers heat the mixture
and then push it through an extruder.
The PVC has to be the right temperature.
Too cold, then it's too hard to mold.
But not cold enough, and ...
It's going to be like banana, which is wrong.
They're not supposed to be like that.
Narrator: The workers use water to regulate
the temperature of the pipe.
The pipe hardens as the water cools it
and is then cut to the right size.
And voila, the old PVC is now new PVC.
Depending on what the product is going to be used for,
Kusasa can include some recycled PVC
when making pipes for other companies.
PVC can be recycled up to 10 times this way
before losing its strength.
Michelle: So this is our warehouse.
This is where the Alice Group,
also known as Mo's Crib, is headquartered.
This is what we consider our distribution center.
So this is where all the finished products come in.
And we basically do our quality check here,
and we do our cleaning, as well as the dispatch.
Narrator: Mo's Crib sells
the smaller planter-style basket for $109
and the larger hamper for $120 on its website.
Its products have also made it into Crate & Barrel
and Target in the US.
Mo: Mo's Crib product is in all of those stores.
And walking into one of the stores in New York, in Soho,
and walking right to a product,
and it's got our name on it, it's ...
Michelle: Yeah.
It was unbelievable. Mo: Cut, cut, cut.
Why are you not cutting it?
Michelle: It was unbelievable.
It was beautiful.
It was just crazy because of, we are looking at this basket,
and you're thinking about Frans that made it,
and thinking back at the journey and how difficult it was.
And seeing that two Black girls from Mabopane,
a township in Pretoria,
actually were able to make this possible.
Both: Thank you so much.
Bye.
Narrator: They've expanded their offerings
to include products made from natural plants
from other African countries as well.
The sisters contract independent artisans
like Mike Sait to weave the grasses.
Michelle: We actually have up to 100 artisans
that work for us part time.
Narrator: The handmade approach
using environmentally friendly materials defines Mo's Crib.
When investors approach the sisters,
suggesting they use machines to scale up production ...
We always stop right there.
It doesn't really matter about the money
or the investment that's going to come in
if we are not going to be able to offer
those job opportunities,
if we're not going to be able to set ourselves aside
from other companies in offering a handmade product.
And it's not just about a transaction.
Narrator: PVC is just a small part
of our global plastics problem,
but the Mokone sisters are happy to do their part.
Michelle: And this, we have found, is a solution
to this global environmental challenge that we are facing.
And we are doing that one basket, one grass tray,
one chair at a time.