Lastics act

The SA Plastics Pact follows a collaborative approach to addressing the problems associated with plastic pollution in the environment. Since 2020, 30 businesses across the value chain of plastic packaging, including resin producers, manufacturers, brand owners, retailers and recyclers, have become members. The organisation works towards a position where plastic is valued and retained in a circular economy. 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 good example is the PET/PVC shrink sleeves on PET bottles. This combination is not recycled because the shrink sleeves disrupt the recycling of the PET bottle. The members worked together to phase out the shrink sleeves, so now about 1 000 tonnes of PET bottles a year will be recyclable 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 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.