The Southern African Plastics Recyclers Organisation (SAPRO) announced the winners of this year’s Best Recycled Product of the Year Award at a gala dinner held in Irene, Pretoria, on the night of Thursday 19 September 2013. The SAPRO Trophy for the Best Recycled Product of 2013 was awarded to Unilever SA for its Sunlight Dishwash Bottle.

Recycled material for the Sunlight bottle is supplied by Extrupet.  The bottles are injection stretch blow moulded by Nampak Petpak in Isando.

“One of the limitations to introducing recycled bottles is customer perception, because consumers are used to buying products in what they believe to be perfect bottles”, explained Douglas Greig, Chairman of the South African Plastics Recyclers Organisation (SAPRO) who hosted the 4th annual gala dinner and awards ceremony.

Brands such as Sunlight have a great heritage with consumers and are often seen to lead the way. If the major brands are proactive in adjusting their packaging to create a better environment, consumers often view this as a very positive step, because they have the market impact and volumes to actually make a difference. In addition, major brands have the financial muscle to influence and educate suppliers, retailers and consumers alike and there is a positive knock-on effect down the supply chain and into the home”, Greig said

Currently in its fourth year, this annual competition is hosted in collaboration with Plastics|SA and forms one of the highlights of the local plastic industry’s Clean Up South Africa Week (16-21 September 2013) – an initiative that encourages South Africans to clean-up and recycle where they work, live or play.

Explaining the purpose of the competition, Greig said the event,  known as Oscars of the Plastics Industry, acknowledges recycled plastics products and encourages brand owners and industrial designers to consider recycled plastics as a material of choice.

“Plastics recycling is an important part of end-of-life plastics products and South Africa is doing well with only mechanical recycling. This annual event is an important vehicle to educate the media, public and even the plastics industry about the magnitude of plastics recycling locally”.

Plastics Recycling in South Africa

Approximately 19 % of all plastics products that were manufactured during 2012 were recycled in the same period.  Says Greig: “The recycling rate is increasing very slowly – too slow to make a huge impact on the plastics waste going to landfill every year.  As a result of the increasing population, urbanisation and a growing middle-class society, the tonnages going to landfill is increasing faster than the tonnages recycled”.  Addressing the audience during the gala dinner, Greig stressed that recycled plastics are in huge demand in South Africa. “Our recyclers cannot produce enough material to meet the demand”, he said.

Sadly, however, the price converters are willing to pay for recycled material does not reflect the demand as recycled material is often still perceived as being second grade or poor quality, inconsistent and non-reliable raw material source. “This is far removed from the truth as this competition has one again proved that recycled plastic is versatile, strong and extremely reliable”.