World Environment Day saw the building of three new recycling villages and the upgrade of two more in KwaZulu-Natal. WILDLANDS recycling villages, which are at the forefront of recycling and the recycling circular economy in South Africa, are part of a well-established WILDTRUST programme. In celebration of World Environment Day, a day that encourages citizen-action to … [Read more...]
PET plastic bottles crest SA’s recycling wave
As the global movement away from single-use plastics gathers momentum, South Africa continues to make significant strides in its PET plastic recycling efforts. According to the latest statistics released by national industry body PET Recycling Company (PETCO), 98 649 tonnes of post-consumer PET plastic bottles were recycled last year alone, saving 612 000 cubic metres of … [Read more...]
Operation #Cleanup Durban a huge success
The South African plastics industry has one again proved that we don't merely pay lip service when it comes to looking after the environment - we act on our promises! Under the guidance of Plastics|SA's Sustainability Director, Douw Steyn, supported by the KZN Marine Waste Network and various other organisations and institutions, more than 300 tons of litter were removed … [Read more...]
Next phase in plastic bag free trial announced
During the trial, which was launched in November 2018, over 100 000 single-use bags were saved from going out into the environment as customers opted for affordable, reusable shopping bags. After a six month trial in four of its Western Cape stores, including the launch of their first plastic bag free store, Woolworths confirms that it will be rolling out its new low-cost, … [Read more...]
Plastics packaging: the journey to designing for the environment
Climate change and sustainable development are two of the biggest issues facing society today and are perhaps foremost in our minds. It is increasingly important for companies to reduce the environmental impacts of products and services through their entire life cycle. Those companies failing to address environmental performance in product design and development will find it … [Read more...]
Now for responsibly sourced till paper
While the till slip is a relatively insignificant bit of paper in the hands of a shopper, for retailers globally the scale of this paper consumption is huge. The heavyweight impact of Woolworths’ latest ‘responsibly sourced’ commodity announcement to replace their till slip paper with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper involves 211 tonnes of paper per year. The … [Read more...]
Plastic bags have now been banned at these shops
A popular retailer has announced that it will stop offering plastic bags at three more stores: its stores in Maroun Square in Johannesburg, Moreleta Village in Pretoria and Delcairn Centre in Durban. In November last year, Woolworths banned plastic bags at the Steenberg Village Woolies in Tokai. At the same time, it also launched R5 reusable fabric black bags, made from … [Read more...]
Recycling your PET bottles is as easy as 1, 2, 3
Plastics are an integral part of our modern lives – without them, we wouldn’t be able to build our smart phones, our iPads or our cars. Plastic packaging adds to the convenience of our lifestyles because it is light and strong. More than this, plastics have contributed significantly to the global economy, bringing enormous benefits to many sectors, thanks to their low cost, … [Read more...]
Plastic Neutral: a big step closer to a healthier planet
The WILDTRUST is proud to partner with Wedgewood Crafted Confectionary to deliver on its first ‘Plastic Neutral’ initiative. Wedgewood is a KwaZulu-Natal based business that has a proud history of investing in its community and working to reduce its environmental footprint. Recognising that its operation uses in excess of 20 000 kgs of plastic annually, it has entered into … [Read more...]
What happens to most of our PET bottles?
What is the largest end-use market for recycled PET plastic (called rPET) in South Africa? Polyester stable fibre. Propet is a polyester fibre manufacturer which produces fibre from recycled PET plastic bottles. Did you know that Propet is committed to cleaning up South Africa’s landfill sites by converting waste into high quality polyester fibre and promoting sustainability … [Read more...]
Ring-fence the plastic bag levy to fight plastic pollution
Nobody is more disgusted at plastic pollution than those of us who work in the plastics industry. It is distressing to see our products washed up on beaches and littering the landscape. But the call to ban plastic products is a simplistic response to a complex problem. What’s required is a rational solution to the genuine crisis of plastic pollution, not an emotional … [Read more...]
Replace shaky fossil energy with reliable sunlight
Eskom energy is shaky. First you have it, then you don’t. In the bigger scheme of things this is a good thing. We need to shift off fossil fuels anyway to save the climate. The more they charge us for energy, the better our motivation to take the plunge and do the sideways jump to renewables – essentially free power. Barring your installation of course. There is only one way … [Read more...]
Plans to up the recycling of polystyrene
The Polystyrene Association of South Africa unveiled exciting plans to increase the collection and recycling rate of post-consumer polystyrene. “We have had phenomenal success with our various recycling projects over the last 11 years. During the 2017-2018 financial year, more than 6 300 tons of polystyrene were successfully diverted from our country’s landfills. When … [Read more...]
