The Polystyrene Packaging Council – the product recovery organisation (PRO) for expanded polystyrene (EPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) in South Africa – has announced that it is changing its name to the Polystyrene Association of South Africa.

“With the recent steps taken to formalise industry bodies representing the various PROs, and in our dealings with government and end-markets, it became clear that we needed to have another look at our purpose, role and positioning within the Industry Waste Management Plan (IWMP).  Whilst technically a ‘council’ is regarded a statutory body, we will not be fulfilling this role in light of the more formalised industry representation which is currently under way,” says Adri Spangenberg, explaining the rationale for the rebranding.

Legal framework

By far, the vast majority of PRO’s in South Africa are established as Voluntary Associations. In line with the general characteristics, the Polystyrene Association is regulated by Common Law, has an open membership and is managed from within by general members or a management (or steering) committee according to a Constitution drawn up by members.

Wider membership

“By doing away with the word ‘packaging’ in our name, we also wanted to include more players in the industry wanting to join us as members.  The polystyrene market has grown considerably since we started more than 10 years ago, and participation is no longer just limited to the manufacturers of food packaging material. In addition, the IWMP requires all producers and convertors of polystyrene to support our objective of increasing the recycling of polystyrene through our various projects that all have a strong charity and social upliftment motivation,” Spangenberg explains.

In step with the new developments, an updated logo has been unveiled, whilst the email addresses and websites will also gradually be changed and seamlessly be redirected to the new the Polystyrene Association URL.