SA’s paper industry is getting EPR ready

By now, South Africa’s paper and paper packaging producers need to be registered with Fibre Circle to comply with government’s Extended Producer

the deadline for EPR registrations was 5 November 2021. These regulations outline a new approach to waste management for paper, packaging and some single-use products, as well as lighting, electrical and electronic equipment.

The aim is to divert waste from landfills and increase the recovery, recycling and reuse of materials.

In October, Fibre Circle, the producer responsibility organisation (PRO) for the South African paper and paper packaging sector, announced that it currently has more than 80 members on its books for its EPR programme.

Fibre Circle’s member companies either manufacture or import paper or paper packaging (primary or secondary), or place their brands in paper-based packaging in the South African market.

An overarching scheme

The sector is currently developing an overarching scheme for the common aspects of the identified paper products, supported by product-specific plans.

The seven identified paper product classes include newspapers, magazines, office, graphic, mixed and other paper – as well as corrugated cases and kraft paper, liquid board packaging, paper labels and paper sacks.

Companies who have signed up to Fibre Circle’s EPR programme have also registered with the South African Waste Information Centre of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE).

This is to ensure that they remain compliant and in step with the new EPR Regulations, which will govern how the end of life of paper and paper packaging is managed. According to the EPR Regulations, all existing producers of identified products, at the time these regulations come into effect (i.e. 5 May 2021), must register with the DFFE within six months of the publication of the Government Notice. This put the deadline at midnight of 4 November.

Workings towards collaboration

“These companies have taken the step to be part of Fibre Circle and join other companies as we map the EPR journey,” says CEO Jane Molony. “Given that there is no silver bullet, EPR can be a complicated exercise, and companies going it alone might find it onerous and costly.

“By joining now, our members can be part of the collective change that we will make in terms of diverting paper products from landfill,” she says.

EPR plans will encompass collaboration with other PROs and municipalities, improving or establishing collection and sorting infrastructure, waste picker integration and consumer

Responsibility (EPR) Regulations. awareness. Molony has noted a concern that the larger paper merchants have not yet registered with Fibre Circle, potentially leaving them in contravention of the regulations. That said, they may choose to implement their own EPR programmes. “Failure to do so may result in imprisonment, an appropriate fine or both,” says Molony. The regulations apply to importers of identified paper and paper packaging products as well.

“There are many paper grades not made in South Africa. These include coated graphic papers such as those used for printing glossy magazines and brochures, and high-end packaging grades that are converted locally. Paper merchants are the companies that help printers bring these into the country. They are required by law to pay an EPR fee per tonne of paper they import,” she concludes.