Recycling as corporate responsibility

THE plastics recycling industry in South Africa has just welcomed the recently appointed POLYCO CEO, Mandy Naudé.  POLYCO (the Polyolefin Recycling Company), the brainchild of the South African Polyolefin Plastic Packaging Converters, focuses its energies on promoting the recycling of polyolefin plastics and diversion of plastic from landfill (i.e. plastics bearing the polymer identification codes 2, 4 and 5) throughout South Africa. 

International Plastics News- Middle East & Africa (IRNEA) spoke to Mandy Naudé to find out more about POLYCO and how it can spearhead recycling as a corporate initiative.

IRNEA:  Why the need for another recycling association in South Africa? 

Ms. Naudé: Forming an association such as POLYCO is in line with local legislation that has now been passed by Government, obligingthe plastics industry to take action in managing post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Our job is to ensure that the industry players act responsibly and participate in the growth and awareness of plastics recycling, to help shape its outcomes.

Business needs to demonstrate that the polyolefin plastics industry in South Africa is capable of and committed to meeting Government’s environmental expectations. This is in line with Government’s principle of Extended Producer Responsibility, which requires industries to become active in recycling the products they produce as per the new Waste Management Act and the requirements of the Industry Waste Management Plan for Paper and Packaging. Unless industry demonstrates that it is acting appropriately with respect to recycling of its products, Government will intervene, and the intervention could be unfavourable towards our industry.

Ms. Mandy Naudé, CEO of Polyco

What are POLYCO’s objectives?

Ms. Naudé: POLYCO’s goal is simple.  We aim to create an organised and committed network of packaging converters united in their commitment to Extended Producer Responsibility by way of the voluntary industry-recycling levy and our business model uses these funds to support projects that will allow the Industry to achieve its recycling target of 35% or 228,000 tonnes  by 2019.

How big is the polyolefin packaging market in South Africa?

Ms. Naudé: Latest available figures suggest that collectively, polyolefins account for approximately 70% of the packaging plastics consumed in South Africa, which is approximately 508,000 tonnes of polyolefin resins. The recycling figures show that 28% of all polyolefin packaging consumed in South Africa was recycled in 2009, which compares favourably with Europe, where there is considerable reliance on energy recovery from waste.

Over the past five years, the industry has increased its volume of tonnes recycled from 125,500 tonnes in 2009 to approximately 159,000 tonnes in 2013 and the recycling rate has increased from 28% to approximately 31%. Over the same period, we estimate that polyolefin packaging resin production has increased from 446,000 tonnes to 508,000 tonnes.

The recycling of polyolefin packaging adds approximately R1.4 billion to the South African economy each year.

What recycling targets have you set for the next few years?

Ms. Naudé: POLYCO’s goal is to achieve a collection rate of 35% (or 239 000 tonnes) recycled out of a total market share of an estimated 680 000 tonnes by 2020. Historic polyolefin recycling rates in South Africa reached 20% in 2005; 28% in 2009; 30.5% in 2012; and estimated 31% in 2013. 

POLYCO supports the South African plastics industry target of sending zero plastics packaging waste to landfill by 2030.  Whilst this might seem to be an ambitious target, we are confident that it can be achieved through forming the right partnerships and support of the excellent projects that have already been put in place or are being put in place by our waste collectors, recyclers and waste to energy organisations.

How is POLYCO funded?

Ms. Naudé: POLYCO is financed by way of a recycling levy of R100/tonne paid by the converters so as to fulfil their role of extended producer responsibility. These funds are collected by the polyolefin producers, SASOL and SAFRIPOL, on behalf of POLYCO.

Who will pay the recycling fee?

Ms. Naudé: Converters who purchase polyolefins to be used in packaging, are subject to the recycling fee.  This includes low-density polyethylene (PE-LD), linear low-density polyethylene (LLD-PE), high-density polyethylene (PE-HD) and Polypropylene (PP).

How will the recycling levies raised be used by POLYCO?

Ms. Naudé: POLYCO has budgeted to invest R10 million in 2014 in line with the project categories outlined in the POLYCO Funding Model, to address current areas of constraint in the recycling industry. Five different categories of support projects have been identified, for which funding will be made available.  

In the Funding Model, the projects that would be financed include Strategic Growth and Development Projects, which aim to increase the economically viable collection and recycling of post consumer polyolefins.  These projects focus on optimising the utilisation of existing collection and recycling infrastructure and help to facilitate its establishment where it does not exist. They are required to deliver the growth in tonnes separated, collected, sorted and recycled.

Another type of project is Supply Chain Efficiency Projects, which support new or existing initiatives that contribute to the growth of sustainable, on-going collection and sorting of polyolefin plastics. These projects focus on optimising the supply chain within the collection and recycling industry, in order to maximise the growth in tonnes separated, collected, sorted and recycled, by addressing current supply chain constraints.

Also being funded are Waste Beneficiation Projects, which support technology development projects aimed at the extraction of value from the polyolefin plastic packaging and other waste material currently going to landfill. These include incineration and pyrolysis. This is included in the End Use Development Category on the Funding model.

The End-use Development/ Research and Development Projects are another type of projects focused on promoting the use of polyolefin recyclate in a range of consumer product applications with the aim of replacing virgin or other materials. Products made from recycled polyolefins range from garden furniture, gardening equipment, paving blocks, children’s chairsa and tables to refuse bags, crates and shampoo/cleaning material bottles.

Visible Consumer Projects support initiatives that do not necessarily involve significant volumes, but which contribute to the visible recycling of polyolefins.  Many of these projects are undertaken in co-operation with other partners and are community-based projects.  Projects include source separation, information and communication campaigns, education and training programmes, and litter clean-ups and awareness campaigns. This category is included in the Supply Chain efficiency category in the Funding model.

Although the deadline for submissions in our latest call for proposals has just closed, we were specifically looking for viable business proposals that would substantially increase the sustainable separation-at-source, collection and sorting of post-consumer polyolefin plastics that are currently being landfilled.  This could either be done through supporting strategic growth and development projects, supply chain efficiency projects or visible consumer collection projects.  More than 60 proposals from across the length and breadth and from every province of South Africa were received, and we will now be spending the next four weeks carefully evaluating each submission against our Project Funding Support Criteria, before announcing the names of the projects that have made it onto the shortlist.

Our second “Request for Proposals” will focus on the recycling sector and aim to implement projects that contribute to the sustainable growthof polyolefin plastics recycling.

POLYCO

E-mail: Mandy@polyco.co.za

Mobile: +27-078 451 6625

Website: www.polyco.co.za