The SA Plastics Pact follows a collaborative approach to addressing the problems associated with plastic pollution in the environment. Since 2020, 30 businesses have become members, across the full value chain of plastic packaging, including resin producers, manufacturers, brand owners, retailers and recyclers. The organisation works towards a position where plastic is valued and retained in a circular economy, which considers the full life cycle of a product. Those who have signed up share their knowledge and experience, which means that members from other sectors can adjust their operations and packaging to achieve circularity. A great example is the PET/PVC shrink sleeves on PET bottles. This combination is not recycled as the shrink sleeves disrupt the recycling of the PET bottle. The members worked together to phase out the shrink sleeves, meaning about 1 000 tonnes of PET bottles a year will be recyclable in South Africa by the end of 2023. Not only does circularity reduce plastic waste pollution, it offers social and climate benefits and contributes to job creation and economic growth. For example, members support the recycling economy and jobs in collection, sorting and recycling by placing packaging on the market that has the best chance of being recycled in South Africa. In 2022, the SA Plastics Pact helped reduce problematic plastics — those that are poorly recycled and/or have a large probability of leaking into the environment — by 355 tonnes compared to 2020. Eighty-two percent of members’ products are recyclable, which translates to 193 000 tonnes of plastic packaging being adequately recycled, a rise of about 1 900 tonnes from 2021.
What’s been your/the organisation’s greatest achievement in your field?
The SA Plastics Pact is a collaborative group of organisations working towards a South Africa where plastic is valued and retained in a circular economy, with benefits of job creation, economic growth and the prevention of plastic waste pollution in the environment.
It is a great achievement to have an initiative that spans the full value chain of plastic packaging, from resin producers, packaging manufacturers, brand owners and retailers to collectors and recyclers collaborating towards a shared goal of a circular economy for plastic packaging in South Africa. Our collaborative has grown to 30 business members since 2020.
This collaboration across the value chain means that members share their insights and experience from their segment, allowing members from other sectors to tailor their packaging and operations to achieve circularity.
Please provide specific examples of how your/your organisation’s practices and work have a positive effect on the environment
SA Plastics Pact members have shown sustained commitment to the targets and highlights include:
- A 355 tonne reduction in problematic plastics in 2022 compared to 2020. So by shifting 350 tonnes by the end of 2022, and in total then 1 000 tonnes by the end of 2023, potentially there will be 1 000 tonnes fewer leaked plastic products in future and 1 000 tonnes of plastics recycled into other products.
- An increase in the percentage of members’ portfolios considered recyclable to 82%, which means 193 000 tonnes of plastic packaging on the SA market is adequately recycled, an increase of around 1 900 tonnes from 2021.
- An increase in the average post-consumer recycled content to 24%, which is about 47 000 tonnes of recycled plastic included in plastic packaging for another use cycle in our economy, about 7 500 tonnes more recycled plastic in members’ packaging than in 2021.
What are some of the biggest environmental challenges faced by South Africans today?
In the context of plastic packaging, many South Africans do not have access to waste management or recycling services. According to the General Household Survey (2022), only 59.9% of South African households have a weekly waste removal service from their homes and 31.7% of households have their own refuse dumps or dump waste wherever they can. Furthermore, plastic packaging is often poorly designed — the fate of our plastic packaging is to some degree designed in at the material selection and packaging design stages. Certain plastic packaging is designed to be landfilled, as there are no or limited collection or recycling options available. Plastic packaging can also be poorly handled post-use (not being separated out from the general waste), and poorly disposed of, such that it cannot be reused or recycled, and ends up polluting the environment.
The widespread problem of plastic pollution is highly visible in SA — plastic caught on vegetation and littering landscapes, blocking drains and washing up on beaches. What is not visible is the microplastic pollution, derived from car tyres and textiles, but also from the breakdown of plastic packaging and other products that are leaked into the environment. Microplastics have been detected in the marine ecosystem from plankton all the way through the food chain to the largest predators. So they are present in the food we eat. In the environment, microplastics interfere with carbon fixation by plankton in the oceans — which is a large carbon sink that buffers our world against even higher rates of global warming.
Climate change is increasingly evident and virgin plastic production use and disposal is projected to account for about 19% of our global carbon budget by 2040.
Our theme this year is Celebrating Environment Heroes. What do you believe could be the repercussions for millions of people in South Africa and the continent if we do not tackle problems exacerbated by climate change, encompassing issues like drought, floods, fires, extreme heat, biodiversity loss, and pollution of air and water?
Failing to address the problems exacerbated by climate change could have significant repercussions in South Africa, including food insecurity, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, extreme weather events and social instability.
Addressing these environmental challenges requires collaboration between all the stakeholders in the value chain.