PLASTICS
The two sides of the
PLASTICS ARGUMENT There have been a number of articles published in local media recently, more specifically in the Daily Maverick newspaper, in which both the South African plastics industry and government have come under attack. Commentary by Anton Hanekom
W
hile remaining silent and choosing not to retaliate to statements in the media might be the most appropriate course of action, there comes a time when we find it necessary to stand up to defend the truth, set the record straight and refute claims that are biased and damaging to an industry that strives to make a valuable contribution to the economy, the country and the environment. In our opinion, many of the statements published were incorrect and without the proper context. It must also be stressed that Plastics SA was never approached by the journalist for comment or to verify the facts. Instead, the publication chose to interview and quote antiplastics environmentalists in its criticism of government for allegedly being “held captive” by the plastics industry and for failing to ban plastics in South Africa.
Anton Hanekom, executive director of Plastics SA
Raising eyebrows for the wrong reasons These inaccuracies have not gone unnoticed by those interested in the management of plastic waste. For example, a LinkedIn post published recently by Rob van Hille, principal consultant at The Moss Group, recently read: “While it is good that the Daily Maverick is publishing ar ticles highlighting the challenges around plastic, society and the environment, the recent ar ticles are littered with factual
24
NOVEMBER 2021
|
ReSource
also incorrectly stated that Plastics SA is a producer responsibility organisation … “I realise that many of these articles are written by freelance contributors, but there should be some editorial oversight to ensure facts are accurately reported, particularly if these contributors are featured regularly.” As a country that has recently recorded the highest unemployment rate in the world (34.4%) with 7.8 million citizens currently jobless, one would expect that any effort to create a publicprivate partnership that is focused on sustaining and creating jobs would be welcomed, applauded and supported. It therefore defies belief that the publication would support the view that government should close down an industry that provides employment to roughly 60 000 people and contributed R68 billion (2.3%) directly to GDP and 20% to the manufacturing GDP in 2020. During the same year, R2.1 billion was injected into the informal sector through the purchasing of recyclable plastic waste.
A favourable recycling rate inaccuracies and numbers that make no sense. “Two ar ticles over the last 10 days have claimed that South Africa generates 2 370 tonnes of plastic waste per year. The fact that the figure was repeated … points to the fact that the initial figure was not a typographical error. A medium-sized mechanical recycler processes several times more plastic than this figure annually. Recent articles have
South Africa compares favourably with the best in the world when it comes to mechanical recycling and currently sits at a recycling rate of around 22%. Although there are countries around the world reporting higher recycling figures, it is important to bear in mind that we do not have the same recycling options available as elsewhere in the world – i.e. incineration, waste-to-energy, commercial composting facilities, or advanced recycling such as chemical recycling.
