REBOOT YOUR RECYCLING THIS SPRING
WOOLWORTHS GROUP HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY
In the spirit of spring, it is an ideal time to clean up and relook at our waste practices at home. If you don’t have a waste separation system at home, it’s a great (and easy) project to start as part of your spring cleaning. The first step is to separate your glass, paper, metal and plastic from your wet waste so that it’s easier for waste-pickers and recyclers.
As many as 60,000 to 90,000 South Africans make a living from wastepicking and their lives have been severely impacted by the recent lockdowns. While recycling is now allowed under current Covid-19 regulations, falling prices for recyclable materials is making it hard for both the formal and informal sectors of the recycling industry to revive livelihoods and businesses.
When it comes to recycling, we all play a vital role. Woolies’ commitment to recycling involves multiple levels of support. For our customers, we try to make recycling as simple as possible with clear on-pack recycling labels and a variety of in-store and shopping centre recycling initiatives. Additionally, we include recycled materials in our packaging solutions across all areas of our business.
Customers join hands with us when they choose products such as the WBeauty bath and body range with 25% recycled PET in the packaging. Or when they choose Woolworths hollow fibre duvets and pillows made with fibre from 100% recycled plastic bottles, or the many fashion items including recycled polyester.
Across our Foods business, the packaging contains an average of 24% post-consumer recycled waste content. We’re working on increasing this to 30%. The popular Earth
Friendly range also has six products with packaging made from 100% post-consumer recycled content.
At a broader industry level, Woolies is a founding member of the SA Plastics Pact which was launched this year as a collaborative initiative to tackle plastic waste and pollution in the country. All members commit to taking measurable actions to achieve a circular economy for plastics in South Africa by 2025, diverting millions of tonnes of plastic away from the waste-streams. Members include most of the major retailers and brand owners in the country as well as plastics manufacturers and recyclers.
Closed-loop recycling solutions for all packaging materials are smart solutions. An example of this is our launch of a paper bag for Fashion, Beauty and Home purchases that is made from Forest Stewardship Council®certified recycled content (FSC N002141), sourced from the very same mill where we send our cardboard and paper for recycling.
As the season of rebirth, spring brings hope and an opportunity to be more responsible and thoughtful in our daily actions so that we play our part in bringing about a cleaner world.