The South African (SA) Plastics Pact members have published the 2022 Annual Report. This follows last year’s publication of the 2021 Annual Report and the publication of the 2020 baseline report in 2021. This year’s report provides a second comparative report that allows the Pact to collectively reflect on the developments and impact made towards achieving its 2025 targets over the last three years.
The SA Plastics Pact currently has 48 members, comprising 26 business members that represent key organisations across the plastics value chain, including resin producers, packaging manufacturers, brand owners and retailers, converters, and recyclers, as well as 22 supporting members representing government, academia indurty bodies and more.
Key highlights published in the 2022 annual report include:
Target 1:
- 101 million problematic or unnecessary items were sold by SA Plastics Pact members in 2022, at a total of 1 050 tonnes
- 68% of the items sold were barrier bags
- Due to market growth, in spite of progress on reducing PET/ PVC shrink sleeves on PET bottles, the tonnage of PET bottles and shrink sleeves rose to 801 tonnes.
- 115 tonnes (4.47 million) of PET bottles and shrink sleeves (or the equivalent 2023 sales) were rendered recyclable through substitution with alternative shrink sleeve material in 2022.
- A further 334 tonnes (12.0 million; or the equivalent in 2023 sales) will have been shifted to the alternative shrink sleeve by the end of 2023.
Target 2:
- 82.0% of plastic packaging placed on the market bymembers was recyclable in South Africa.
Target 3:
- 43.9% of plastic packaging placed on the market in SA
- the output recycling rate was 35.0% in 2022
Target 4:
- 24% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
- Average recycled content across consumer/primary packaging was 12.3%.
- Average recycled content across retailer/secondary and logistics/tertiary packaging was 40.7%.
These and other highlights, including a significant number of member success stories form the essence of this year’s report which is available for free download.
“Our members have shown leadership by pioneering this journey towards a circular economy for plastic packaging which is not only good for businesses, but for consumers, communities and the planet.” – Saloshnee Naidoo, Circular Economy Programme Manager at GreenCape.
