PLASTIC IN SA

The packaging environment in South Africa is quite advanced, says Professor Peter Ryan of the Marine Research Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT), but we have a poor solid-waste management system.

In countries such as Denmark and Sweden recycling is a way of life and in Germany it’s enforced by law – but it’s still optional in SA.

We don’t have laws that make recycling mandatory, says Monya Vermaak of Plastics SA. “People do it of their own free will.”

And so most of the packaging ends up in landfills and in our oceans.

Since 2004 South Africans have had to pay levies for plastic shopping bags to encourage them to bring reusable bags.

The government levy on one plastic bag is 8c but shops often charge between 50c and 70c a bag.

“The levy did initially result in a drop in plastic bag use but consumption has subsequently increased again as people have started to see this as just part of the cost of [shopping],” says John Duncan of the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF). He believes the cost isn’t high enough to have an impact on most consumers’ decisions.

Scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are working on a biodegradable plastic bag using material imported from Germany, the Netherlands, Thailand, China and Japan.

Locally mass-produced biodegradable plastic bags will hopefully be a reality in SA within the next three years, says Dr Sudhakar Muniyasamy, a CSIR researcher.

Biodegradable plastic bags are made from plant-based sources such as starch and cellulose and are 100% degradable and recyclable, he adds.

The bags are five times more expensive to manufacture but he believes they’ll become more affordable as production increases.