Cape Town today plays host to a full day conference entitled “Global Partnerships for a Sustainable Recycling Sector; Sharing. Dialogue. Action.”

In order to afford visiting delegates an opportunity to see various recycling initiatives in and around Cape Town site visits will take place on the 22^nd of November. This was done in partnership with the European Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisation (EPRO).

“EPRO does not only represent the international plastics industry, but jointly have a wealth of knowledge to share with role players and decision makers across all packaging streams”, explains Cheri Scholtz, CEO of PETCO and the local host of the conference. “EPRO delegates are eager to learn from the experiences in southern Africa, the BRICS and other developing countries as well as the US who are represented on the program,” she adds.

Sponsors who have come on board include the National Research Foundation, City of Cape Town, POLYCO and MPact Recycling, Plastics SA, the South African Plastics Recycling Organisation, the Polystyrene Council, the Packaging Council of SA and the  SA National Bottled Water Association.

“South Africa has a well-developed and diverse recycling industry that is eager to learn how to become more profitable, sustainable and cutting-edge,” says Scholtz. “Judging by the participation we are seeing from both big and small business it is clear that the timing of this event is spot on and that the topics addressed resonate with the industry.”

“As plastics issues are getting more and more global, it is time to look for solutions beyond Europe,” says Peter Sundt, secretary general of EPRO. “From the European side we are all looking forward to this colloquium and meeting organisations and people from Africa. It is now time for all of us to share knowledge and learn from each other’s experiences,” he added.

They are joined by South African experts giving a local perspective on the topics at hand, including Jim Petrie, director, Energy and Green Economy in the Department of Economic Development and Tourism; Western Cape Government; Rustim Keraan: director, Solid Waste Management, City of Cape Town; Dr Suzan Oelofse: president of the Institute of Waste Management southern Africa; Charles Muller, executive director of the Packaging Council of South Africa and chairman of Recovery Action Group; Bertie Lourens: CEO of WastePlan; Dr Linda Godfrey: principal scientist, Waste for Development at the CSIR; Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, director of Griffon Poison Information Centre & Association of Veterinary & Crop Association of South Africa and Gracia Munganga, GreenCape Waste Economy Sector Manager.

“We are very excited about being able to partner with PETCO in the hosting of an international conference at this level and believe that the input we receive and networks we build will have a positive impact on the local recycling industry in the years to come,” concludes John Hunt, managing director of Mpact recycling.