Despite a challenging year for South Africa’s recycling economy, grassroots buy-back centres are experiencing a 20-30 per cent spike in productivity thanks to critical infrastructure investment in their collection and recycling efforts.

The support comes from South Africa’s longest-standing producer responsibility organisation, Petco, on behalf of its members who pay extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees for the packaging they put on the market.

According to an analysis by Petco, on the back of a difficult 2025, the recycling sector worldwide faces another tough year, but the organisation has been continuing its long-standing support of small recycling collection businesses with the machinery, training and logistical support to turn post-consumer packaging into sorted, processed and baled material.

The collected post-consumer packaging is then sold to recyclers and fed into the country’s circular economy, where the recycled content is reincorporated into new products and packaging.

Over the past year, Petco made strategic investments in infrastructure and equipment support for small businesses, amounting to almost R9 million, up from R4.5 million in 2024.

The latest chapter in Petco’s work involves the support of two Gauteng-based buy-back centres: Flink Pik in Pretoria and InWaste Green in Johannesburg. Both have recently received infeed conveyor systems, catapulting their productivity by 20 to 30 per cent.

“A conveyor system is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in a recycling operation,” said Tlou Sebola, Petco’s collections and training manager.

“Instead of workers moving recyclables one by one into a baler, the belt automates that process, reducing manual labour and improving safety and efficiency across the board.

“We want to empower these businesses to keep doing the work that makes our members’ sustainability commitments real,” said Sebola.

Flink Pik has been processing paper and plastic since 2009, engaging Petco in 2023 when it began collecting Tetra Pak liquid board packaging (LBP). Petco sponsored storage cages and branding, followed by a six-metre branded trailer in 2024, valued at over R80 000, to extend collection areas and improve logistics.

The business saw its monthly PET collections grow from 46 to 120 tonnes, and now collects an average of four tonnes of LBP per month.

In early 2026, Petco added a horizontal baler and an infeed conveyor system at a combined investment of almost R900 000. PET processing is expected to increase by a further 40% as a result, with LBP collections up by 10 to 15%.

“The conveyor and baling machine help with production capacity. We use less rope because of heavier bales and need less stacking space,” said Henk du Preez, co-owner of Flink Pik.

Another business that has seen the benefits of Petco’s ongoing support is InWaste Green, a Johannesburg-based business that has been receiving assistance since it first applied for sponsorship in 2017. To date, Petco has provided branded containers, trailers, and sponsored a truck modification that allowed it to accommodate roll-on/roll-off waste cages, totalling over R600 000.

That support helped the business survive Covid-19, sustaining jobs and waste picker incomes. InWaste Green has since grown its workforce from 50 to 60 employees and now buys from 2 500 active waste pickers – up 40% from 2017.

The late-2025 conveyor system sponsorship, which also included site signage and 38 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE), valued at over R500 000, brings total Petco support to the business to over R1.1-million. The conveyor system is expected to lift PET processing efficiency by 25 to 30% and will enable InWaste Green to introduce LBP collection for the first time, opening a new revenue stream and diverting more material from landfill.

“My team and I would like to express our gratitude to Petco for their unwavering support,” said Miriam Moses, co-owner of InWaste Green. “We are truly thankful for Petco’s trust in our vision.”

Sebola said the investments reflected what genuine producer responsibility looks like in practice. Petco administers extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes on behalf of its members’ companies – among them major packaging producers whose post-consumer bottles and cartons pass through businesses like Flink Pik and InWaste Green on their way back into the circular economy.

“Every piece of equipment we put into a buy-back centre is the mechanism by which our members’ packaging gets collected, sorted and recycled,” she said. “That’s not a claim. That’s infrastructure.”