Initiatives like the newly launched and game-changing South African (SA) Plastics Pact aims to tackle the plastic pollution problem head on, by keeping plastics ‘in the economy and out of the environment’.
Launched on the 30th of January 2020, the SA Plastics Pact was developed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-SA), in partnership with the South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO), and the UK’s WRAP. It has been developed for the South African context but also shaped by experiences of others in the global Plastics Pact network, in particular the UK Plastics Pact, led by WRAP. The SA Plastics Pact will be managed and delivered by GreenCape, with the founding members committed to a series of ambitious targets for 2025 to prevent plastics from becoming waste or pollution. The first of its kind in Africa, the SA Plastics Pact joins France, the UK, the Netherlands and Chile, to exchange knowledge and collaborate to accelerate the transition to the circular economy for plastic.Some of the SA Plastics Pact founding members are Clicks Group, Coca-Cola Africa, Danon, Distell, HomeChoice, Shoprite Group, Spar and Unilever, to name a few.
Other organisations include Fruit South Africa, SAPRO, the Polyolefin Responsibility Organisation, the Polystyrene Association of South Africa, the PET Recycling Company, the Southern African Vinyls Association, the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa, the National Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and the City of Cape Town. By 2025, all members commit to:- Take action on problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models.
- 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable*
- 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled
- 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
