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BusinessDay www.businessday.co.za Thursday 18 August 2022
INSIGHTS
PACKAGING
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Awareness among consumers is key Separation at •source is vital to
successful paper recycling, writes Lynette Dicey
S
A has been using recycled paper as a raw material in tissue and packaging products for more than a century. The country has a largely successful paper recycling economy with a five-year average of paper recovery rate of about 70%, says Jane Molony, executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association of SA (Pamsa). About 77% of the paper products recovered for recycling in 2021 was paper packaging. In 2021, SA recycled 1.15-tonnes of paper and paper packaging, representing a paper recovery rate of 61.4%. Since 2003, the local paper industry has diverted more than 20-million tonnes of paper and
Jane Molony … societal shifts. paper packaging from landfill. This has saved 62-million cubic metres of landfill space. If baled, that amount of paper would go around the Equator 1.5 times. Despite the long-term success of SA’s paper recycling efforts, the sector is not immune to economic fluctuations and societal shifts. In2021 the paper recovery rate reflected a 9% drop compared to 2020, primarily as a result of disrupted supply chains due to the pandemic as well as a shift in the economy and buying trends. The drop, explains Molony, doesn’t mean SA is recycling
less paper. In fact, there was marginally more paper collected in 2021 compared to 2020. In addition, the consumption of paper and paper packaging increased year on year by 17% which knocked the percentage out. Last year also saw more paper products in the market as brands shifted from plastic to paper packaging and businesses and schools opened up again. Most paper does not end up in landfills and is instead still within the system as paper stock, says Molony. “Recoverable paper excludes paper unsuited for recovery such as tissue products and cigarette papers, and paper packaging that accompanies exported products. In 2021 SA exported about 574,000-tonnes of packaging.” She explains that the use of more pulp, paper and paper packaging is neither a cause of deforestation nor bad for the environment because South African pulp and paper mills only use wood fibre from sustainably managed
plantations. After mature trees have been harvested, new trees are planted which ensures a sustainable supply and increased carbon uptake and, of course, storage of carbon in harvested wood products, including paper. Key to the success of paper recycling in SA is separation at source by consumers, including businesses, schools and academic institutions, and the necessary infrastructure to support the collection from consumers. Cardboard boxes and paper packaging used for dry foods such as cereals and paper grocery bags are sought after by waste traders. Clean, dry paper is essential for successful recycling, says Molony, explaining that informal recycling collectors earn a better rate if the paper is of good quality. She concedes that there is a need to close the gap between the technical capacity to recycle, infrastructure to recover and collect and, vitally, awareness, education and behaviour change among consumers.
PVC industry rejects ‘problem plastics’ list The SA Plastics Pact has published a list of what it calls “problematic and unnecessary plastics”, advocating that these plastics should be phased out of packaging by members by the end of 2022. Among the list of 12 items is PVC rigid packaging, including bottles — with the exception of medicine packaging — pallet shrink wrap and labels. Among its concerns around PVC, says Plastics Pact, is a low recycling rate due to the small market size and environmental concerns in terms of production and end of life, as well as the additives in PVC materials. The Southern African Vinyls Association (Sava) is not accepting the rejection of PVC, arguing that recycling figures clearly indicate a strong demand for PVC recylate in SA. “During the 2020 reporting period, 21,433-tonnes of PVC were recycled of which 13,440tonnes were flexible and 7,992tonnes were rigid PVC,” says Monique Holtzhausen, Sava CEO. “In fact, PVC was the only polymer to have recorded a year-on-year increase of 9.5% despite difficult trading conditions including global raw material shortages and supply chain issues, high material costs, interrupted electricity supply due to load shedding and the effects of Covid-19.” She says the global shortage of raw materials and high polymer prices drove demand for recylate even further. PVC is in intrinsically lowcarbon plastic with more than half its molecular weight derived from common salt. Not only is it extremely durable and cost-efficient, it can also be recycled several times without losing its essential properties. Vinyl materials are extensively recycled in SA, the US, Canada and Europe. “Using PVC as packaging can help preserve and conserve food by guaranteeing a longer shelf life, improving food safety reducing bacterial proliferation and protecting against external contamination,” says Holtzhausen. “Sava members are all signatories of a Product Stewardship Commitment which addresses environmental issues including international health and safety standards and sustainable best practice models.” Not only will any decision to ban a specific stream have dire consequences for thousands of
people employed in the sector, but PVC has specific application values that cannot be ignored.
21,433
tonnes of PVC were recycled during the 2020 reporting period, of which 13,440 tonnes were flexible and 7,992 tonnes were rigid PVC
9.5%
was PVC’s increase in its recycling rate for the 2020 reporting period — it was the only polymer to have recorded a year-on-year increase
Holtzhausen has called for consultation between industry and government to ensure
replacement materials for PVC are as economical, recyclable, effective and fit for purpose.
‘We need to fix SA’s broken waste management system’ A frequently visible pollutant, plastics have developed a bad rap over the years. Despite its bad reputation, it’s hard to imagine a world and a life without plastics given that almost every sector and industry relies on plastics to make life easier, safer and more convenient at an affordable price. In SA, there has been a notable increase in the consumption of plastic packaging products which can be partly attributed to the high demand for health and hygiene products during the Covid-19 pandemic. The per capita consumption of plastic products now is about 24kg per citizen in SA — and 29kg per person when adding recycled content. However, to imagine the solution to our country’s waste crisis is as easy as simply banning the use of plastics is an uninformed, irrational argument, says Anton Hanekom, executive director of Plastics SA. “More and more of the plastics used in the healthcare environment, automotive industry, technology, building and construction, and mining sectors is recyclable or is being manufactured with a percentage of recycled plastic contents as product designers and developers grasp the enormous benefits and savings afforded to them by supporting
the circular economy,” he says. Numerous independent scientific studies conducted in the past few years have compared the environmental footprint of plastics versus other packaging materials such as glass, paper or biodegradable packaging. Time and again, these life cycle analyses have proven that plastics require less energy, reduce waste and have lower carbon emissions. Earlier this year the World Economic Forum conceded that in trying to solve the challenge of plastic pollution, it may have created another problem: replacing plastic with materials that have a carbon footprint up to three times higher than plastics themselves, some of which are not biodegradable in real-life conditions. In 2020 the CSIR released findings showing that locally
produced, reusable plastic shopping bags have a lower environmental footprint compared to carrier bags made from alternative materials or biodegradable bags — provided that they are re-used. There is no escaping the fact the real benefits of plastics are jeopardised if plastic waste pollutes our environment. The issue that should therefore be addressed, says Hanekom, is that of human behaviour and the country’s broken waste collection and recycling systems. “Stats SA’s General Household Survey for 2021 reveals that there has been no improvement made with regards to waste collection in SA,” he says. “More than a third of households in SA still have to rely on communal or household refuse dumps, while 1.6% of households have no refuse facilities at all.” The reality, he adds, is that if we don’t fix SA’s broken waste management system, all our other efforts will be less effective and even wasteful and fruitless activities. “We can have the best redesigned product that is 100% recyclable. However, if it is not separated at household level and moved to a central place where it can be sorted for recycling, then it will simply end up in a landfill or the
environment. We need to stop cherry picking and collect all waste to combat pollution.” In Europe, which has a much higher recycling rate than SA, recyclables are extracted from the waste stream much earlier than SA which typically sources recyclables from landfill at a much higher cost. Every piece of plastic, says Hanekom, has value and the potential to be repurposed and recycled into something new. In some cases, this may require that manufacturers make some changes to ensure plastic products are recyclable. Plastics SA, an umbrella body representing the local plastics industry, is in the process of developing a clear understanding of how circularity can be applied in the real world as far as plastics are concerned, and the role that plastics play in a low carbon future. The organisation has noted the need to embrace a circular economy and create a true “nothing wasted” mindset to ensure every piece of plastic the industry creates is collected and recycled back into raw material. To achieve this will require that more work, research and investment into developing new recycling technologies that will transform difficult to recycle products into new and useful, durable products.