South Africa forges ahead with recycling, as global plastics treaty stalls

Despite the recent breakdown in UN-led talks on a global treaty to stem plastic pollution, South Africa is forging ahead with its efforts to continue building a circular economy for post-consumer PET beverage bottles.

On October 6, the country’s plastics recycling infrastructure received a major boost with the official launch of Extrupet’s second PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility – and the first of its kind in the Western Cape. This state-of-the-art facility, at the company’s Propet plant in Cape Town, started commercial production in March this year, and is set to add 15 000 tonnes of recycled PET (rPET) plastic to the market per year.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, said plastic pollution was not only an environmental crisis, but also a public health emergency that harmed communities and threatened ecosystems.

The Minister said South Africa was at the forefront of the global process to end plastic pollution.

“Through the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, we are advocating for a legally binding instrument that covers the full life cycle of plastics, from design and production, through consumption, reuse and disposal.”

Although these negotiations had stalled, he said South Africa would lead by example, with the government creating an enabling regulatory environment, and industry players like Extrupet making it real through investment in increased recycling capacity.

“This facility is more than bricks and machinery, it is a symbol of how South Africa can turn a crisis into an opportunity. It shows that with clear policy, vision and partnership, plastic waste can be transformed from a burden on our environment into a driver of jobs, innovation and inclusive growth.”

He said that PET was one of the most visible and valuable plastics in the waste stream, providing an income and dignity for many South African waste pickers and small businesses.

“If we collect PET properly, it supports livelihoods and builds enterprises. If we do not, it ends up in landfills, rivers and oceans. That is the choice before us, and this facility tilts the balance towards opportunity.”

In 2009, Extrupet established its first bottle-to-bottle line at its Johannesburg plant, with the second and third following in 2014 and 2020 respectively.

Extrupet’s joint managing director, Chandru Wadhwani, said the latest addition marked the first of a two-phase expansion that will double the recycler’s food-grade rPET output capacity.

“This line represents phase one, which takes our total output from 30 000 to 45 000 tonnes this year. Next year, we are hoping to launch phase two with new machinery, which will see us producing 60 000 tonnes of rPET countrywide that meets international food-grade standards.”

Wadhwani explained that PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, commonly used to package soft drinks and bottled water, was one of the few truly circular, commercially viable plastic recycling solutions – where bottles could be processed safely back into new food-grade products, keeping the material in circulation at its highest value for as long as possible.

“With our increased rPET capacity, we will be able to process more plastic waste and strengthen South Africa’s position as a circular economy leader in Africa and the world. So, we’re pleased that our new plant can act as a beacon of hope in finding solutions to mitigate plastic pollution.”

Wadhwani added that Extrupet had been working with the country’s longest-standing producer responsibility organisation (PRO), Petco, for more than two decades to facilitate and balance the collection and recycling of PET, and stimulate market demand for the end-use products.

With roughly 70% of the PET beverage bottles that Petco members place on the market currently recycled, he said there was much to be positive about, despite the failure of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) session to develop a legally binding global instrument to deal with the growing volumes of plastic waste worldwide.

“For the past three years, the United Nations has been trying to get member countries to agree on the measures we need to put in place to mitigate plastic pollution. Because we still don’t have clarity on the way forward, it has put the onus back on individual countries and companies to do what is required,” said Wadhwani.

“We are proud that South Africa is one of the countries that has created extended producer responsibility [EPR] legislation to deal with this issue. This means that, by law, producers and brand owners must take responsibility for their packaging waste across its entire life cycle – from design to disposal.”

Petco CEO Telly Chauke explained that the organisation’s primary function was to support the implementation of EPR legislation and to help its producer members meet their legislated targets for collection and recycling.

“Key infrastructure investments like this one ensure the availability of food-grade rPET at scale for local producers, who must also meet increasing targets for including recycled content in their packaging.”

Chauke said the new Western Cape facility would have a positive impact for the province’s agricultural producers, whose export punnets destined for the European market need to contain at least 25% certified rPET under new EU regulations.

She said it was encouraging to see the regional recycling value chains strengthened by investments such as these.

“The economics need to work for recycling to succeed. So having facilities in key regions like the Western Cape will have a big impact as it is costly to collect bottles locally and then transport them across the country for reprocessing.”

Chauke added that it was not only up to business and government to act, but that consumers could play a role by buying products in recyclable packaging, wherever possible, and separating recyclables from their general household waste to create clean feedstock for these recycling plants.