Controversial retail plastic bag regulations promulgated last week by Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa will become law in May next year – despite the heated opposition of industry and labour.
Phindile Makwakwa, Moosa’s spokesperson, said there was little room to alter key aspects of the regulations because interested parties had been adequately consulted.
The regulations have been attacked for failing to meet the ministry’s objective of striking a balance between environmental protection and damage to the economy, by destroying jobs and raising imports. Only about 20% of bags are currently imported.
The regulations require that retail plastic bags are produced at a minimum thickness of 30 microns for plain bags and 80 microns for printed bags. This is up from the current 17 microns. A micron is a thousandth of a millimetre.
Makwakwa said the currently stipulated levels, relaxed from the initial 80 microns for both printed and unprinted bags, are the minimum possible level needed to encourage recycling. Printed bags pose added problems to would-be recyclers.
Wolfgang Raffalsky, president of the South African Plastics Federation, said this week the federation would seek to reopen talks with the government.
Industry’s main objection is that most of the equipment in use is designed to cope with a 15- to 25-micron range, and the requirement of thicker bags will render equipment worth R1-billion obsolete.
A study commissioned by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) confirmed this view. It estimated direct resulting job losses at 3 800.
Raffalsky insisted industry knew of no country that used retail bags 30 microns thick. Manufacturers would have to retool for an untested product that had no visible market. The retail industry is valued at R12-billion, with the retail and packaging plastic sub-sector accounting for R500-million of this.
Makwakwa responded that the government had always conceded the new regime would raise industry’s costs.
“But we need to balance that against the need to protect the environment,” he said. A range of alternatives had been considered before finalising the regulations.
In an uncharacteristic show of joint force, the Congress of South African Trade Unions’s (Cosatu) chemical union has also objected to potential job cuts.
Union spokesperson Welile Nolingo, said labour had called for the required thickness to be reduced to 24 microns, and for printing on bags thinner than 80 microns to be restricted. The union has not ruled out a dispute and strike action, with Cosatu’s support.
Its expects retailers to import 80-micron bags, so that they can be printed. This would lead to higher costs, which retailers might pass to consumers in the form of more expensive food.