Entries are now open for the 2021 Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year Awards. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s awards ceremony will be a virtual event that takes place on Thursday, 14 October 2021. During the event, the recycler of the material, the manufacturer of the product as well as the brand owner will be acknowledged. Each category will have a winner … [Read more...]
Diversification to ensure sustainable packaging
South Africa’s legislation has moved from voluntary to mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) amid increasing consumer and governmental pressure on brands to ensure end-of-life solutions for their products beyond consumer use. With that in mind, South Africa’s PET plastic Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), PETCO, has announced that it is diversifying into … [Read more...]
Cape Town’s top 10 green innovators announced
Invest Cape Town and The Business Hub, initiatives of the City of Cape Town, in partnership with GreenCape, invited innovators and entrepreneurs with economically viable green economy innovation business ideas to enter the Invest Cape Town | Business Hub GreenPitch Challenge 2021. From close to 40 excellent nationwide entries, the following innovations have been announced as … [Read more...]
Food-grade rPET facility expands processing capacity
Extrupet has finalised the expansion of its food-grade recycled PET plant, increasing the current processing capacity from 20 000 to over 30 000 tonnes per annum, to facilitate the growing demand for rPET. As PETCO continues to believe that growth in rPET production and consumption is ultimately key to ensuring the sustainability of both the PET and recycling industry, rPET … [Read more...]
Moving circular economy efforts forward in Africa
South Africa’s – and Africa’s – efforts to move towards a circular economy could be boosted by improved collaboration and partnerships between public sector, private sector and communities; and by decentralising programmes and infrastructure to enable broader participation and progress. This is according to experts participating in a panel discussion on Opportunities in … [Read more...]
EU delegation supports policy dialogue on local green recovery
On 2 September 2020 the EU Delegation in South Africa engaged with national, provincial and local South African government stakeholders, as well as representatives from industry and civil society, in an online dialogue on the theme of green SMME recovery. This engagement forms part of various initiatives in the build-up to the #Team Europe Climate Diplomacy Week, which runs … [Read more...]
International label champions profitable cleantech solutions
The Solar Impulse Foundation has launched a bold challenge: to find, select and promote 1,000 cleantech solutions that have both positive economic and environmental impacts on the world. In South Africa, GreenCape entered into a collaboration with the Foundation through the International Cleantech Network (ICN), to support its mission of selecting 1,000 clean and profitable … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurs sought for growing Cape’s green economy
GreenCape and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), in partnership with Invest Cape Town, an initiative of the City of Cape Town, invite innovators and entrepreneurs with economically viable green economy innovation business ideas to enter the FNF GreenPitch Challenge 2019. Entries are open from Monday 18 November until noon on Friday 29 November. “The FNF is … [Read more...]
SA’s green economy transforms bottom lines
South Africa's fast emerging green economy is driven by factors such as radical cost savings, brand differentiation, sustainable futures, skills attraction and retention. Driving its uptake is business, particularly multinational companies (MNCs), which – through its global nature and the interconnectedness of markets – is harnessing green principles to do good and boost … [Read more...]
Are we the Waste Generation?
When future archaeologists peel back the layers of our history, will they uncover the Landfill Era? “We are a heavily landfill dependent country,” said Quinton Williams, Environmental Consultant with Jeffares & Green and a speaker at last week’s Waste Compliance meeting, organised by Institute of Waste Management South Africa (IWMSA). Quinton introduced waste from a … [Read more...]
Solar power in sunny South Africa
With the rise in demand for sustainable energy, solar power is stepping up to supply. In a country with plentiful sunshine, this seems like an ideal and bottomless resource to tap. Last week the Solar Indaba was hosted by the Mount Nelson hotel in Cape Town, and Green Times attended. This conference gave 250 director and board level stakeholders the opportunity to enter … [Read more...]
Growing SA’s solar water heating industry
Since the light bulb wired the world we can no longer live without electricity and the abundance thereof. However, in South Africa we have become used to living with less electricity, because of the energy shortages at Eskom. The endeavour to supply South Africa with alternative energy recourses is underway, but could definitely use a much needed power boost. The solar water … [Read more...]
