The South African (SA) Plastics Pact has followed the publication of its baseline report last year, with the publication of the 2021 annual report, providing a first comparative report that allows the Pact to collectively reflect on the developments and impact made towards achieving its 2025 targets.
The SA Plastics Pact currently has 44 members representing key organisations across the plastics value chain, including resin producers, packaging manufacturers, brand owners and retailers, converters, and recyclers.
Key highlights published in the 2021 annual report include:
- Target 1: 34.7 million fewer problematic or unnecessary items were sold/distributed by members in 2021
- Target 2: 81.2% of plastic packaging placed on the market by members is currently recyclable in South Africa, compared to 80.7% in 2020.
- Target 3: The amount of plastic recycled in South Africa in 2020 was 43.2% of the total plastics placed on the market in 2020, with a 35.4% recycling rate for plastic packaging.
- Target 4: 20.8% Average recycled content across consumer/primary packaging is 11.7% with retailer/secondary and logistics/tertiary packaging remaining largely the same at 37.1%.
“We celebrate the sustained commitment of SA Plastics Pact members during the global COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically constrained our economy. Nonetheless, our members have remained committed in their pursuit of our 2025 targets and continue to trailblaze the path towards a circular economy for plastics and as secretariat of the Pact, GreenCape salutes all members for their collaboration and commitment to our shared goal”, said Wade de Kock, circular economy analyst at GreenCape, during athe recent SA Plastics Pact member conference.
The 2021/2022 annual report is now publicly available and can be accessed here.
