SPECIAL FEATURE marketing , public relations and consumer campaigns , shifting sole accountability to the consumer and , in the case of South Africa , to government . Another argument used to defend the industry position is that virgin plastic has a lower carbon footprint than any other material , even recycled plastic .”
Lorren therefore says the focus should now shift back to the producers of plastics . “ With virgin material produced by the big oil companies getting cheaper , along with more investment in plastic production , we should expect recycling to become even less feasible . Expect to see some shocking recycling rates in South Africa and globally in the future if producers higher up the value chain don ’ t start investing heavily in this sector ,” she says .
“ If the industry says recycling is the solution , why are they not investing in it , stimulating both the supply and demand side to make it more competitive with virgin plastic ? It ’ s time that all involved in the plastics sector in South Africa – and by that I mean producers , converters , brand owners and retailers – took real
action , not talk and PR , to reinvigorate the recycling sector and to find real solutions .”
Know Your Waste
On a related note , Lorren ’ s advice to those trying to recycle as much as possible is to find out what is actually recyclable by the recycling companies or plants in their area , and not overwhelm the recyclers with waste they cannot process . “ When it comes to recycling , some people say you should put all plastic waste in a bag and send it to recycling collection points , so that a full measurement of waste can be done , including of all the non-recyclable plastic products . This , in turn , will hopefully result in recyclers putting pressure on the plastics industry to change the types of plastics being produced . However , this is not a good idea , as you may actually put recyclers out of business if you do that ,” she says .
“ Take for example Waste Plan , the company responsible for most of the collection of plastic waste in Cape Town . The waste goes to their Kraaifontein recycling facility , which has sorting belts to sort all the waste . They have to pay over R150,000 per month for landfill disposal fees , as much
Part 1 of our series on Green Runners appeared in the January edition , and the third and final part will appear in the upcoming March edition , featuring more of the wonderful eco-warriors who run amongst us . of the waste is not recyclable , and these costs are increasing . It is therefore economically unviable to simply expect these recyclers to handle all the waste we produce .”
The growing problem ... plastic waste in the oceans
To find out more about WWF-SA and its conservation work , go to www . wwf . org . za , and click here to download Plastics Facts & Futures Report , the WWF-SA report co-authored by Lorren .
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