Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of site tour on sidelines of Global Sustainability Conference

South Africa's efforts to build a circular economy for post-consumer packaging have been thrust into the spotlight on the sidelines of a global conference on sustainable waste management in Cape Town.

The opening day of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)'s annual conference saw the country's most experienced producer responsibility organisation, Petco, and recycling partner Extrupet giving a site tour for a new PET processing facility that represents a first-of-its-kind technology for Africa.

When it comes on stream in 2025, the facility housing the new R300-million project will bring PET bottle-to-bottle recycling capability to the Western Cape for the first time and will add an extra 15 000 tonnes per annum of food-grade recycled PET (rPET) output capacity. Extrupet joint managing director Chandru Wadhwani said 64% of South Africa's PET plastic bottles were currently collected for recycling.

"With this increased capacity, we will be able to accommodate more plastic waste and strengthen South Africa's position as a circular economy leader in Africa and the world." Speaking about the development, Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Bernice Swarts, said, "We believe that this facility adds value to our efforts to increase the collection and recycling rates for packaging materials, including PET. We view the facility as an opportunity to stimulate a demand for more PET materials and a supply of these by waste pickers and waste SMMEs, thus creating stable markets for PET."

Swarts added that the "facility needs to be fed and the collection system needs to be improved in order to meet the demand of this facility. Waste pickers are an important contributor to the supply of the input material of plastic waste and we look forward to seeing the implementation of the waste picker service fee in order to continue to enable these waste pickers to do their work effectively and efficiently."

Petco CEO Cheri Scholtz said the additional capacity would assist in closing the loop for PET, which is the most widely recycled plastic polymer that can be turned into another food- grade product. "So, this increase in capacity takes us another tangible step towards that circular economy, in which a bottle becomes a bottle over and over again and keeps that material in circulation at its highest possible value."

The theme of this year's ISWA conference is 'Waste to Wealth: Solutions for a Sustainable Future.' As host country, South Africa demonstrated its commitment to sustainable development with a focus on building a circular economy and the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations that require producers to take responsibility for their packaging waste throughout its life cycle.

Scholtz said, as a PRO, Petco worked with government to contribute to policy development and the implementation of EPR legislation, and also helped its members to meet their legislated targets for collection, recycling and the inclusion of recycled content in their packaging, which increased year on year.

She said the key to success lay in building a sustainable value chain that could survive the economic peaks and troughs, by balancing collection with recycling capacity and stimulating
market demand for end-use products. "It doesn't just happen overnight, it has been a journey. Petco and Extrupet have been working together for more than 20 years to build a solid foundation. "Petco's commitment of ongoing support to our 10 contracted recycling partners, like Extrupet, gives them the confidence to invest in the new equipment and infrastructure that is needed to recycle increasing tonnages of recyclable packaging.

"The support also enables recyclers to increase the gate price at which they purchase recyclable packaging, which stimulates collection on the ground by increasing the street value of this packaging and growing the local market for it, thereby making it easier for waste pickers to sell their collected packaging and earn an income from it." She said a strong relationship with government, especially the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, was equally important for the country to benefit as a whole.

"Having implementable regulations, strong compliance, and effective enforcement is vital. We partner with all tiers of government to support sustainable waste management and diversion initiatives, and work towards meeting sustainable development and circular economy goals." Scholtz added that the opening of the new plant also aligned with government's climate change goals, as outlined in the newly signed Climate Change Bill. The bill sets out to enhance South Africa's ability to cut greenhouse gas emissions and build climate resilience, while reducing the risk of job losses, and promoting new job opportunities in the emerging green economy.

Wadhwani said Extrupet had established its first bottle-to-food-grade line in Johannesburg in 2009, with the second following in 2014. "The third arrived during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. And the fact that this is now the fourth line in what's, in essence, a 15-year horizon is just so gratifying for us."

Wadhwani said the new plant was important as it also had knock-on effects for a number of export-oriented industries, including agriculture. "The Western Cape is a large exporter of fruit to global markets. Our recycled PET ends up in packaging like fruit punnets, and under the new European Union legislation, you cannot export into that market if your packaging does not meet their requirements for certified recycled content. So, having capacity on the ground to make the raw material will be critical for all export-oriented industries going forward.

"Our new facility uses world-leading Erema VACUNITE® equipment, which will produce recycled material that is both certified and traceable and meets global standards." South Africa's efforts to build a circular economy for post-consumer packaging have been thrust into the spotlight on the sidelines of a global conference on sustainable waste management in Cape Town.

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