South Africa’s “national flower” and “roadside daisies” face extinction
as the deadline draws close for shops to stop providing consumers with free thin plastic bags.
The bags fluttering from fences and basking on land throughout South Africa should fade into unpleasant memory and consumers will think twice before discarding plastic bags when they have had to pay for them.
From May 9 the price of bags will be listed on the till slip. The 15- to 17-micron freebie will be replaced by slightly thicker 24-micron bags that will cost between 25c and 46c at supermarkets.
Wolfgang Raffasky, vice-president of the Plastics Federation of South Africa, said consumers have already been paying for the supposedly free plastic bags because their price is incorporated into the price of the products we buy. Now that consumers must consciously pay for their packaging they are expected to think twice before tossing them away.
“The plastic bags themselves are not toxic. We just have a litter problem. It will no longer be a ‘national flower’ because the plastic will be given value. The thicker packet is better for the environment because it enhances recycling,” Raffasky said.
The price includes value-added tax and an environmental levy of 2c, which the government will use to clean up South Africa and educate citizens on environmental issues.
Plastic manufacturers will be allowed to produce plastic bags with a minimum thickness of 24-microns for the next five years, but afterwards they will not be allowed to make bags thinner than 30-microns. Failure to comply is subject to a fine of up to R100 000 or a year in jail. A second conviction could land the offender in jail for up to 10 years.
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa says the penalties demonstrate the government’s desire to send a tough message: “We have to clean up our country. These regulations on plastic bags are the start of a broader look at waste management. Simply put, we as a nation have to start to recover a higher percentage of our waste lest we drown in our own garbage.”
Raffasky said the plastic bag industry expects demand will drop to 30% of current production, but that this will not lead to job losses. The manufacture of the thicker bags might even create about 200 more formal jobs and additional informal jobs.
“By getting serious about what it calls the ‘litter’ problem for plastic bags and the throw-away culture that exacerbates pollution, the government is motivating industry to find creative ways around the problem,” said Patrick Dowling, an environmentalist from the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa.
“One new sight will be plastic bags with the logo of one store being used openly in a different shop as part of the multi-stakeholder agreement that no business may ban the use of another’s bags on its premises.”
Pick ’n Pay has already introduced an alternative to the plastic bag. The
environmentally-friendly bag is made from non-woven polypropylene and costs R5.
“In the Western Cape we’ve sold R20 000 [worth] of these bags in two days, so it seems that consumers have accepted this new regulation,” said Graeme Laithwaite, a director.
Consumers would still be given free plastic bags at the bakery, deli and fruit and vegetable sections of the supermarkets, he said.