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CREATING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY DESIGN FOR RECYCLABILITY FIND DROP-OFF SITESINDUSTRY STATISTICS REPORTS RECYCLING SURVEYSUSEFUL INFORMATIONEXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITYSA PLASTIC RECYCLERS ORGANISATION
Creating a circular economy for plastics — in which plastics are sustainably produced, designed, used, reused and recycled — will help achieve important sustainable development goals (SDGs). Plastics (and other materials) should be kept in use for as long as feasible and then recycled to prevent them from becoming waste. A global agreement can help develop robust plastics collection/recycling infrastructure and supply chains that support local/regional solutions to ending plastic waste.
The Global Partners for Plastics Circularity is a multinational collaboration of associations and companies that make, use and recycle plastics.
To find out more about their AMBITION, PROGRESS and other RESOURCES, visit the website.
The aim of the “Design for Recycling for Packaging and Paper in SA” guide is to encourage designers to consider recycling possibilities, provide guidelines for those wishing to make their packaging (more) recyclable and provide everyone with information to prevent their packaging inadvertently interfering with existing plastic recycling streams.
Climate change and sustainable development are two of the biggest issues facing society today. It is therefore increasingly important for companies to reduce the environmental impacts of products and services through their whole life cycle. Companies failing to address environmental performance in product design and development will find it increasingly difficult to compete in the global market.
Packaging should be designed to satisfy technical, consumer and customer needs in a way that minimises environmental impact. These guidelines focus on the design of plastic packaging to facilitate recycling and represent a small but important aid for the journey to sustainable production and consumption
Download Design for Recycling (11.5Mb PDF) – Updated October 2017
Industry Statistics Report 2023
How much plastic is produced and how is it treated at its end of life? To
understand what is happening in South Africa, one needs to look at the bigger
picture.
Download the Executive Summary 2023
Industry statistics for 2022 – Download the Executive Summary 2022.
2021 Industry Statistics Report
PLEASE NOTE
The Recycling Surveys of the past few years have focussed solely on the plastics recycling industry.
This report has now been replaced by the Industry Statistics report which was released in November 2022.
To find out more, download the Press Release and the Executive Summary or click here.
The Recycling Surveys provide the Plastics|SA survey results for domestic virgin plastics consumption and recovery tonnages. All materials recycled or reprocessed in South Africa are expressed as a percentage of locally manufactured plastics products.
2020 Recycling Survey
2019 Recycling Survey
This document is referred to in the Recycling Survey
OR
purchase the full Recycling Survey, at R700 (excl VAT), by emailing Dianne.Blumberg@plasticssa.co.za.
Brought to us by the Sustainable Seas Trust:
- The African Resource Book Series: A Guide to Plastics is the ultimate ‘A to Z’ of plastics, specifically within the African context – from their properties and applications, the sources, pathways, and drivers of plastic pollution, to the policies and legislation that already exist in Africa to manage the impacts of poor management decisions pertaining to plastics and waste.
- Plastic-Free Seas: An action-focused guide for plastic management in Africa is a practical guide to support Africa as a continent, its nations and cities in drawing up the necessary sustainable waste management plans, with a focus on plastic. This guide provides a clear framework outlining key actions along the value chain at regional, national, and local levels and includes downloadable, editable action plan templates that authorities can adapt to their contexts.
- Addressing ALDFG in Africa: A Best Practice Guide is a collaborative, Africa-focused guide to implementing global best practices for the prevention, mitigation and remediation of ALDFG (ghost gear) in Africa.
- LitterLogga is a litter monitoring mobile app aimed at citizen scientists and researchers to record and keep track of the litter collected during clean-ups. The app aligns with methods to capture litter data in our African Litter Monitoring Manual and an international database of litter from multiple African countries.
The Big 7 Polymer Types of Plastics | Breaking Down Plastic(s)
Watch this simple and useful series of videos on the various plastics, brought to you by POLYCO, the Producer Responsibility Organisation for some of these plastics.
Did you know that so many products are made from other recycled products?
With 59 million people in South Africa, there is enormous pressure to reduce the amount of packaging waste sent to our country’s landfills or which ends up as visible litter in the environment.
For this reason, DFFE implemented Section 18 Regulations to the Waste Act in 5 November 2021.
The South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) represents the plastics re-processors in South Africa. Its members procure sorted, baled end-of-life plastics and re-process it into raw material. The recycled material can be used to manufacture new plastics products. South Africa is amongst the top recycling countries in the world. The Organisation is funded by its members and assists recyclers in Building a recycling industry that is respected and acknowledged by government, industry and the public.
Competition entries are open for the 2024 SAPRO Awards
Do you or your business partners have an exciting product which uses recycled content as part or all of the raw material? Then you should consider entering into the SAPRO Awards 2024. This prestigious award gives recognition and exposure to products and companies that are doing more to drive up recycling and give recycled plastics a new life through product innovation. Entries are done in partnership between a recycler, manufacturer and brand owner to share the glory between the vital partners in new developments.
Awards are presented in these categories; Flexible packaging, Rigid packaging, Agriculture, Household and leisure, and Construction industry products. There will be an overall winner too.
Competition entries close on the 1st of August 2024. More info.
The Best Recycled Product of the Year Awards 2023 … Find out who the winners were.
The Best Recycled Product of the Year Award 2021… Read all about the winners.