What to do if there are no recycling facilities in your area? Since April this year, having your PET (clear plastic) beverage and water bottles recycled is as easy as shopping online. That is when you order your shopping online from Pick n Pay.
Bronwen Rohland represents the retail category on the Petco board and is also Pick n Pay’s Marketing and Sustainability Director:
‘Through this one-of-a-kind initiative in South Africa, we are offering to remove any used plastic bags, plastic containers and batteries for recycling when we make home deliveries to customers who order their groceries online.’
Pick n Pay’s online shopping currently offers a home-delivery service operating in all the major centres around the country. Customers can register and shop online and choose a convenient delivery time to have their groceries delivered directly to their home or business.
According to Rohland, this reverse-logistics recycling initiative was initiated as the retailer has an established online shopping business and delivery network, which could facilitate the return, via online shopping delivery vehicles, of used plastic bags, plastic containers and batteries to stores for recycling after deliveries had been made.
Ideal for innovative business
Households aren’t the only ones who should be recycling, since South African businesses are some of the biggest polluters in the country. But are businesses aware of what’s going on with our environment? If they are, we should surely see much more dramatic changes in companies’ ways of operating.
The Plastics/South African Sustainability Council (the new name for the Plastics Federation of SA PFSA) which is comprised of different plastic polymer members such as PETCO, PSPC and SAPRO, will be hosting the first workshop in a series of courses, entitled ‘Introduction to Carbon Management.’
Governments around the world and in South Africa are beginning to put a price on carbon, either through taxation or with a trading scheme. Companies will have to start disclosing and reporting on their annual carbon emissions. The plastics industry should therefore understand the issues surrounding climate change that affect business.
These include: carbon emission measurement, monitoring and reductions, carbon markets, carbon trading, offsetting strategies, as well as how carbon taxation will affect the industry.
This series of courses aims to ensure that you are up-to-date with the latest offerings from government and the private sector. It will help you understand the business opportunities and risks associated with climate change. It aims to empower business to make decisions that will help position your company as a low carbon company. The course covers topics such as The Science of Carbon, The Carbon Cycle, Global Warming and the Greenhouse Gas Effect, Adaptation, Future Scenarios and Flexibility Mechanisms.
The following candidates should find it necessary:
- Company employees who lead their company’s environmental policies and department;
- Management who need to make decisions with regards to operating within a low carbon economy;
- Finance and Admin employees who should understand carbon accounting;
- Marketers who need to better understand carbon markets and how to position eco-advantage to customers
Introduction to Carbon Management Course strictly adheres to the GHG protocol and ISO 14064. Both of these standards are considered global best practice for carbon accounting. Global Carbon Exchange, a leading strategic sustainability consultancy and training provider, will conduct the course.
The course will take place in Cape Town (28 June), Durban (29 June) and Johannesburg (5 July).
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