South Africa has the most developed recycling sector on the continent. In 2021, the country recycled 344 527 tonnes of plastics, which equates to a recycling rate of 21.7%. In just one decade, the industry increased its plastic recyclate production by 36%.
One notable organisation working to drive recycling in South Africa within the context of extended producer responsibility is Petco, a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) that administers EPR schemes on behalf of its members in the PET and liquid board packaging sectors.
In 2023, the second year of South Africa’s now-mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation, Petco achieved 98% of legislated targets of collection and recycling of post-consumer packaging. The EPR regulations require that packaging producers – brand owners, retailers, and importers – take responsibility for the full life cycle of their post-consumer packaging so that it does not end up in the environment or landfill.
The data showed Petco achieved the required 64% collection rate and exceeded the 58% (60% achieved) recycling rate for PET beverage bottles placed on the market by its members. Members currently include brand owners such as Unilever, Tiger Brands, Twizza, The Beverage Company, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and retailers Pick n Pay and Woolworths.
Petco promotes recycling efficiency in the production, design, conversion, collection, and recycling of post-consumer products and associated labels and closures. The organisation also runs recycling awareness programmes and produces educational material. The Petco model has been introduced in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, with plans to roll it out in other countries too.
PET bottle recycling: a South African case for closed-loop recycling.
Taking a used soft-drink bottle and remaking it into a new one is a sophisticated and technologically advanced process that is done widely in South Africa. This is significant because bottle-to-bottle recycling is the most sustainable end-use of collected bottles. It closes the waste loop.
PET bottle recycling keeps the product — the bottle — out of the waste stream and the environment and keeps it within the value chain at its highest value but at the lowest cost to both the consumer and society at large. PET bottle-to-bottle recycling demonstrates how the product is recycled back into the same product it was originally intended for.
The process must be designed with multiple end-uses in mind. This means that even the less well-designed packaging (e.g. brown PET bottles) can still be recycled, for instance into clothing fibre. This means that every bottle finds a home, even if not particularly well designed.
Why Pet Plastic Bottles Are Not Trash.
PET forms the basis for synthetic fibres like polyester and is also recognised in the packaging industry as the rigid plastic commonly used as beverage bottles for carbonated soft drinks, bottled water, milk, juice, sports and energy drinks, jars, punnets, tubs and trays for food items, bottles for household, personal care and pharmaceutical products, and sheet and film for general packaging.
1. Because they can be recycled and used again and again
PET packaging can be made from up to 100% recycled PET, recapturing both the material and the inherent energy of the original package. PET can also be recycled multiple times. Since Petco’s inception in 2004, over 14 billion bottles have been collected for recycling.
2. Because they can be made into new useful products
Collected PET is processed and re-manufactured into a variety of new materials including fibre and new PET packaging. Since Petco’s inception in 2004, the organisation has helped to create over R5.4 billion worth of new products containing recycled PET (rPET).
3. Because collecting them creates jobs
Plastic bottles are valuable and create income opportunities for informal collectors. If one person collects 200 bottles for 240 days of the year, it amounts to 1 450 kilograms per year.
4. Because collecting them is good for the environment
Recycling PET bottles has saved over 900 000 tonnes of carbon and avoided using almost four million cubic metres of landfill space to date. Recycling plastic bottles decreases the need for raw materials and saves energy.
Petco harnessing the power of informal waste collectors
Petco is pioneering an approach to integrating informal waste collectors into the collection and recycling value chain. It does this mostly through supporting individuals, cooperatives, and related organisations by providing skills development, business training, and supplying personal protective gear. This model — the industry working with the informal sector to accelerate the development of recycling and a circular waste economy — could be expanded across Africa.
Benefits of EPR legislation in the African context
While recognising that EPR is not the panacea, if designed well and implemented effectively, EPR schemes can provide several benefits and opportunities, including increased collection, recovery and recycling rates, reduction of public spending on waste management, and design for environment, such as increasing the durability and reusability of products.
There is further significant potential benefit from including the informal sector in EPR systems in terms of effective waste management operations and facilitating affordable and sustainable financing in countries where waste management systems are limited. Inclusion also provides opportunities for providing informal workers with sustainable livelihoods, income opportunities, and improved health and social protection.
At SST, we are committed to driving and supporting recycling and extended producer responsibility in Africa.
