Safripol Sustainability Conference Report 2024
Sustainability has become a key issue globally across industries and geographies. Safripol’s annual Sustainability Conference – now in its fifth year – has been witness to this evolving trend, including seeing the issue of sustainability extend beyond materials. In South Africa, challenges around energy and water have become key to the sustainability debate, requiring that businesses have an appropriate response in place.
Safripol, the second largest polymer producer in Sub-Saharan Africa and a member of JSE-listed KAP, has invested R0.5bn in recent years on sustainability, reported CEO Nico van Niekerk during his welcome address. The understanding of how petrochemicals are being used and their responsible use has advanced significantly in recent years with technical solutions now in place. Van Niekerks stressed, however, that to ensure the continued sustainability of the industry, greater collaboration between all the partners in the value chain is required.
A highly versatile material, there is no question that plastics have transformed lives. Plastic packaging preserves and protects food, extends its shelf life and protects it from pathogens, helps support food security and is affordable. Plastics have also had a positive impact on other industries, including making healthcare safer, better and more affordable. Unbreakable, resealable and lightweight, plastics provide logistical savings. Disposed of correctly, they are one of the most fit for purpose, environmentally friendly materials available. However, despite feeding into just about every economic sector, it’s a material which continues to be marred by misconceptions.
The conference’s keynote address was delivered by Optimum Investment Group’s economic advisor, Dr Roelof Botha. Discussing South Africa’s economic and political outlook, he said the state capture era and poor economic leadership during the Zuma years cost the South African economy R2.5 trillion in lost GDP and R635 billion in lost tax revenue. “Better leadership and a more competent state would have supported an average of 1.2 million more jobs,” he said.
The interest rate hiking cycle which the South African Reserve Bank embarked on in 2021 did further damage to the economy and resulted in significant declines in capital formation investment. he pointed out that the South African economy has never been able to grow sustainability when the cost of debt is high.
Despite the challenges, the country’s post pandemic economic recovery has been strong with the ZAR remaining one of the 20 most traded currencies globally, fundamental monetary stability in place and a strong cumulative trade balance. Public finances and foreign exchange reserves are both in relatively good shape and mineral sales have stabilised. Tourist arrivals are recovering and income from tourism accommodation has improved. Household disposable income is recovering and will recover further as interest rates come down.
Sustainability, he explained, has three pillars to it: an environmental pillar with the objective of protecting and preserving the earth and its natural resources; an economic pillar which aims to achieve long-term profit generation without depleting resources; and a social pillar to ensure human dignity and respect for human rights across multiple generations.
Government’s biggest priority, said Botha, needs to be on removing obstacles to business growth. “When businesses grow, jobs are created. Imagine a South Africa where every able citizen of working age has a job.”
The key potential drivers of economic growth under the new government of national unity (GNU) include fundamental macroeconomic stability, higher levels of capacity and efficiency in transport logistics, the lowering of interest rates leading to a lower cost of capital, private sector assistance with public works programmes, assistance from employer organisations to identify obstacles to business, land reform and an agricultural development agency, further subsidisation of renewal energy, a permanent basic income grant, a specialised SAPS unit to eliminate construction mafia and private sector participation units at government units.
He insisted that despite the challenges facing the country, none of them are insurmountable. “South Africans are a resilient bunch with a huge depth of creativity. I am very optimistic about our future,” he concluded.
Optimum Investment Group – Dr. Roelof Botha
The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it, said British historian, explorer and environmental activist Robert Swan.
United Nations member states have recognised that decades of fragmented, country-specific efforts have not been enough to curb the growing plastic crisis and that a legally binding global treaty is essential to tackling plastic pollution at scale.
In March 2022, 175 countries adopted a resolution at the United Nations Environment Assembly to negotiate an internationally legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution. Including both binding and voluntary approaches, it aimed to include a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic, taking into account national circumstances and capabilities. The result is the Global Plastics Treaty, the most ambitious and impactful framework to tackle plastic pollution at every stage.
To date, the negotiating committee has had four sessions and hosted two expert groups to develop this legally binding instrument. At issue are different priorities for the global north and global south with countries at different levels of economic development and with different waste management systems in place.
To date the committee has not agreed on definitions, holds divergent views on the inclusion of primary plastic production and has been unable to agree how control should be wielded, amongst other issues. What has become apparent is that members of the negotiating committee have a limited understanding of the plastics industry. They have conceded that this negotiation is more complex than any previous negotiation. Of concern is that there are just 63 hours of negotiating time left before the agreement will be signed in November 2024.
The agreement has significant implications for polymer producers. The implications of a proposal on a global primary plastic pollution fee on primary plastic polymer production continues to be discussed. Complicating matters is that not all member states are primary plastic polymer producers although all members states are plastic consumers.
Local polymers are produced according to international chemical management standards. There is a growing acknowledgement that imported materials and products needs to comply with the same standards.
Chemicals are added to plastic for different reasons, including as a UV stabiliser or as a barrier. South Africa’s stance is that that there needs to be proper management of all chemicals and not only those included in polymers and these need to be regulated under a national chemical management regulatory framework, supported by the Global Framework on Chemicals.
The committee’s current recommendations include a value-chain approach focusing on disclosure of primary plastic polymer production and an increase in recylate. It has also recommended identifying chemicals of concern using a criteria-based approach for identification and a global measure on standards for prioritised applications and products as part of an effort to level the playing field. Other recommendations include a focus on emissions and waste management to ensure that all households receive waste services, globally binding extended producer responsibility (EPR) measure and a standalone financial mechanism.
South Africa has prioritised the plastics sector for economic growth, revealed Deputy Director General for Chemicals and Waste Management at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment, Mamogala Musekene. A priority for the South African government is addressing problematic plastics and agreeing a financial mechanism to implement the treaty. “Government is cognisant of the responsibilities and obligations that will arise once the treaty is agreed and that South Africa is able to meet its responsibilities,” she said.
Industry body Plastics SA is one of many local organisations championing the Global Treaty and has joined forces with the global industry, including the Global Partners for Plastics Circularity and the International Chamber of Commerce.
“We support initiatives to eliminate plastic pollution while at the same time retaining the societal benefits of plastics,” said Plastics SA Executive Director Anton Hanekom.
Relative to global production, both Africa and South Africa are relatively small producers of plastics. China produces 32% of global polymers compared to 9% produced by Africa and the Middle East. South Africa’s plastics industry accounts for just 0.4% of global polymer production.
Encouragingly, South Africa is growing the amount of plastic waste it recycles. In 2023, plastic waste recycling grew by 17% with around 27% of total plastic waste recycled.
“South Africa needs to adopt a pragmatic approach to determine appropriate national action steps with timelines, targets and effective monitoring and evaluation included. The reality currently is that we have a broken waste management system: only 39% of South Africans have access to waste management and we lack separation at source and the necessary infrastructure to separate waste. We urgently need to transform from the current waste picking model which is based on perceived value to sorting all waste,” said Hanekom.
He added that it is likely that the treaty will not be perfect to start with, particularly given that each party has their own priorities. “It’s important that a middle ground is achieved that provides assurances and that it is not so watered down that it is ineffective.”
Meghna Laxman Macdonald, spokesperson for the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty said that while plastic pollution has dominated the environmental landscape for years, the shift towards a circular economy is transforming this narrative. “Across the globe, investments in recycling and sustainable materials are growing with more and more businesses recognising the immense value in circular systems.”
She argued that a comprehensive treaty that addresses the entire lifecycle of plastics is our best – and perhaps only – chance to secure a sustainable future.
The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty launched in September 2022 and has bought together over 230 organisations, including key players from the plastics value chain, financial institutions and NGOs. Its vision is to grow the circular economy so that plastic never becomes waste or pollution, retaining its value within the economy. It’s estimated that circular solutions could reduce plastic pollution by at least 80% by 2040 and achieve near-zero pollution by 2060. The Business Coalition believes that a legally binding treaty is crucial to stimulate coordinated national actions, enabling global transition to a circular economy for plastic.
The key elements of a strong treaty, according to the Business Coalition, include unified global standards, a comprehensive package of public and private finance mechanisms to support treaty goals, tailored sector-specific initiatives starting with critical sectors like packaging and fishing gear and a framework for reporting, evaluating progress and adapting policies to ensure the treaty remains effective over time.
Macdonald said there are three potential pathways for South Africa to take as far as plastic and economic sustainability is concerned. The first pathway is a business-as-usual approach which will ensure plastic production and consumption continue to grow by 3% annually until 2040, resulting in escalating pollution and costs. The second pathway focuses on increasing collection and recycling efforts to meet South Africa’s five-year extended producer responsibility (EPR) targets for plastic packaging. The third pathway represents the optimal system change scenario and envisages minimising environmental impact while maximising economic gains, balancing plastic reduction and job creation. This pathways is predicted to achieve a 63% decrease in total plastic pollution, a 37% decrease in GHG emissions, a 67% decrease in costs through infrastructure investments and a 3% increase in job creation through circular economy models.
“This optimal system change scenario demonstrates how a balance between economic and environmental priorities can deliver powerful results,” said Macdonald. “Systemiq, a system change company, says plastic-related activities are expected to generate about 70% more jobs compared to estimated 2019 levels and that in the full life-cycle scenarios, these new jobs will be shifted towards recycling, substitutes and new delivery models such as reuse and waste management.”
The shift from plastic production to circular business models, she added, will not only reduce pollution but create significant economic value. “We estimate that by 2040, plastic-related activity will shift from production towards circular business models and materials management, especially under the full lifecycle scenarios. This will result in the creation of value pools $110 billion for recycling, $250 billion for substitutes, and $230 billion for reuse – across all regions – more than offsetting limited declines in plastic production.
Department of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment – Ms. Mamogala Musekene
Plastics SA – Anton Hanekom
Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty – Meghna Laxman Macdonald
CSIR – Prof. Linda Godfrey
A poll was held to determine what conference delegates believed would be the top two funding mechanisms to end plastic pollution. The majority of respondents said EPR schemes would provide the required funding, followed by an eco-modulated levy for household general waste. Musekene cautioned that while this was a good idea, it would be complicated to manage and monitor and was not something government envisaged in the short term.
A second poll asked delegates what they believed were the top two factors that contributed the most to plastic pollution. Consumer behaviour came out tops, followed by irresponsible waste management and a lack of recycling infrastructure.
Producer responsibility organisations (PROs) act as intermediaries between producers and government, overseeing the collection, recycling and disposal of certain product categories post-consumer use. In 2021, extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations came into effect in South Africa, making EPR mandatory for all producers and importers of packaging. Companies that make or import any form of plastic packaging for distribution are required to pay an EPR fee per tonne and government are setting strict targets for yearly collection and recycling.
Non-profit company Polyco is a PRO that promotes the responsible use and recycling of all plastic packaging at the end-of-life within the circular economy, with the aim of ending plastic waste in the environment.
It is one of seven PROs belonging to the PRO Alliance. Established in 2022, the PRO Alliance was born out of the need for PROs to work together on national infrastructure, collection and recycling projects, generic recycling and awareness campaigns as part of its extended responsibility obligations for the paper, metal, plastic and glass industries. The other members of the alliance include PETCO (PET plastic and LBP), MetPac-SA (metal packaging), The Glass Recycling Company (glass packaging), Fibre Circle (paper and paperboard recycling) and EWASA and Circular Energy (both of whom handle all materials). In total there are more than 30 registered PROs in SA.
Between January 2022 and June 2024, Polyco invested more than R200 million in infrastructure investment, plastic value support chain, municipal support, enterprise development, education and awareness and waste reclaimer integration.
Polyco’s Francois Marais discussed the challenges facing PROs. Firstly, it’s often difficult to collect and recycle materials, he revealed. “We need to design packaging with a purpose and find better ways of designing sustainable packaging. If a manufacturer produces packaging that can’t be recycled they should face punitive costs. Going forward we need to better understand our challenges, measure more and find proper interventions and challenges.”
Other challenges include the large number of PROs, a lack of separation at source initiatives and manufactures that continue to free ride on businesses that contribute towards EPR initiatives.
Junaid Francis, Petco Stakeholder Relations Manager revealed that the organisation has enabled the collection and recycling of more than 70% of PET bottles and jars being placed on the market by its members. It has also been responsible for growing the value in the trade of post-consumer PET bottles. “In 2005 we collected 7 000 tonnes of post-consumer PET with a street value of 50c per kilogram. Combined this means the trade in post-consumer bottles was worth about R3.5 million that year. In 2022, Petco grew collections to almost 90 000 tonnes of PET with a street value of around R4.50 per kilogram, meaning that value had grown by more than 100 times to around R400 million.”
In 2023, Petco invested over R70 million in the collection and recycling value chain, enabling contracted recyclers to purchase R309 million in post-consumer packaging from collection businesses.
Developing viable end-use markets is crucial for the success of EPR schemes. Petco promotes food-grade recycled PET as the preferred end-use for post-consumer PET packaging as much as possible. In 2023, Petco enabled 28 000 tonnes of recycled PET for use by members and the industry and began to administer an EPR scheme for liquid board packaging. It grew the number of active buy-back centres from 7 to 32.
Petco’s research reveals that around 70% of waste is found in the household waste stream with the balance in the commercial or industrial stream. Recovery of recyclables from households is estimated to be 10 times more expensive compared to industrial collections. “Engaging with municipalities is therefore key to unlocking the separation of recyclables from general waste at scale and to establish the necessary infrastructure to ensure that those recyclables enter the value chain and end up at recyclers,” said Francis.
Achieving a sustainable circular economy, he agreed, starts with good packaging design. In 2023, Petco member Woolworths transitioned to a polyolefin shrink sleeve on PET bottles for its iced tea range, enabling both the bottle and the sleeve to be recycled.
“There remain challenges when it comes to packaging design, including the slow uptake of recycled PET globally, problematic packaging design such as bio-degradable, PVC and opaque PET bottles, and a competitive landscape which hinders collaboration,” said Francis.
Packaging SA, a voluntary industry body representing converters, raw material suppliers, material organisations, brand owners, retailers and other organisations with interests in packaging, commissioned BMi Research to calculate the collection rate of packaging, paper and print. The study found that the volume of plastic packaging waste collected continues to outpace the production rate. The industry collected 46.1% of plastic placed in the local market in 2022.
The research also investigated the packaging and paper industry’s response to the implementation of EPR. Overall, it appears that the industry has welcomed the introduction of EPR regulations with producer responsibility organisations keen to use the framework provided by the regulations to ensure a better environment. However, many stakeholders feel that amendments to the regulations should be made to address issues. The research also revealed that government is responsible for ensuring registration compliance if a company chooses not to belong to a PRO and that this is not the responsibility of PROs.
“What became very apparent during the course of the research is that many producers remain unaware of the regulations which is one of the reasons for low compliance. Other challenges include a lack of compliance monitoring and public participation which did not reach all affected parties,” said BMi Research’s Dr Dana Braithwaite.
The report suggests increasing awareness of regulations to producers, awareness of penalties for non-compliance and to revisit public participation, particularly to waste collection companies.
The research also considered the funding mechanism and how EPR fees are utilised. “The challenges we found are that currently, each PRO can propose its own EPR fee; importers can’t always identify or record the products or waste stream; and the fact that brand owners want to lower their direct collection spend as they are now paying EPR fees,” revealed Braithwaite.
The report suggests that a single EPR fee per waste stream is applied, that importers are given an extended period to improve data or allow combined category estimates, and increased awareness of necessary spend on final packaging as well as factory waste.
“The outlook for PROs going forward is very dependent on future decisions taken by government,” said Braithwaite. “If the current status quo is maintained and no amendments are made to the regulations, PROs will become ineffective and there is a likelihood that the EPR fee will be converted to a tax with the PRO structure taken in-house and run through government agencies.”
The message from PROs is clear: separation at source is key to achieving EPR targets while PRO membership needs to be mandatory for all producers.
Polyco – Francois Marais
Petco – Junaid Francis
BMI Research – Dr. Dana Braithwaite and Packaging SA – Shabeer Jhetam
While some plastic packaging is currently widely recycled such as clear PET bottles, HDPE milk bottles and PP tubs, there are several that are much more challenging to recycle including snack packaging, multilayer bags and pouches, PVC honey and bubble bath bottles and thermoform packaging.
Nicky van Hille, founder and MD of The Moss Group, explained that there are three key issues which underly these challenging products: the weight of the packaging, contamination and limited or no end-use for the recyclate. “Global efforts to deal with these problematic waste streams have included incineration, incorporation into road building materials, tray-to-tray recycling, delamination, compatibilization and selective dissolution and even chemical recycling, but most are still in their infancy.”
South African players, she revealed, are leading the way in designing for circularity. Master Plastics, for example, has designed solutions to replace multi-material packaging, hybrid films that can be recycled and recyclable vacuum packaging for high barrier applications. Infinitive Industries has designed boards, roof sheeting decorative boards and housing solutions made of recycled materials. MyWaste have designed a mature polyplank as a viable alternative to hardwood. Nowatech uses recycled PVC bottles and pipes and wood shavings to produce a PVC wood composite. Build It have designed an asphalt binder containing multilayer plastics as a pothole mix, cold tar roads and private paving projects, while Zerocrete have manufactured a decorative concrete out of waste.
“The building environment offers huge opportunity for uptake of problematic plastic waste. We need to start thinking sideways and more broadly,” she said.
To its credit, South Africa can already boast of a number of successful recycling projects. Inkwazi Isu is a plastic waste management initiative serving KwaZulu-Natal’s inland communities, townships and coastal areas between Ezimbokodweni and Little Amanzimtoti Rivers. A partnership of a number of stakeholders including Plastics SA, Petco, Polyco, Alliance to end Plastic waste (the biggest funder), Sasol, eThekwini Municipality, the Pyrolsis Group, SST and DSW, it offers a recyclables collection service to eight communities, sorting infrastructure, education and clean up.
The initiative includes 10 material recovery facilities with an additional two sites currently under construction. The project is funding collection and material recovery facilities, recycling operations and downstream recycled plastic processing. In its first two years of operation, Inkwazi Isu diverted 17.9 KTA of plastic waste.
One of the biggest challenges which Inkwazi Isu is successfully addressing is encouraging waste pickers to pick up all waste as opposed to only valuable waste. Leveraging fit for purpose technologies has been key to the success of the project. A waste tracking app, Kudoti, records waste volumes from all sites while an EPS ingot machine helps to reduce polystyrene volume. Glass and hard to recycle plastic is being used as an aggregate in paving blocks. “As the project scales up there will be further investments made in downstream technologies to create value from plastic waste,” revealed Dr Emmanual Sakado, Project Manager at the South African Healthcare Foundation.
Another example of a successful recycling project is Re-Purpose, a leader in reverse logistics in the waste management sector. Earlier this year Re-Purpose announced a partnership with plastic packaging manufacturer and recycler, the APLA Group, to strengthen the feedstock value chain of APLA’s first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling facility in Africa. APLA is investing in a recycling plant in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal which is expected to produce more than 35 000 t/y of recycled PET. Re-Purpose empowers local communities and buy-back centres to collect plastic waste using a business model that creates hundreds of jobs and income for previously disadvantaged people.
In 2023, the business collected 5 000 tonnes of plastic. Its SchoolPet – Fish initiative, which launched in August 2024, aims to encourage separation at source and encourage learners to collect waste to ‘feed the fish’. Its prototype Fish, a metal structure in the shape of a fish, holds 400kgs of PET when full. The business aims to roll out 50 fish at schools.
The Moss Group – Nicky van Hille
South African Healthcare Foundation – Dr. Emmanuel Sakado
RE-Purpose – Bevlen Sudhu and Alpla Recycling SA – Gerhard Meyringer
In 1999, UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan proposed a global compact of shared values and principles. The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding pact to get businesses to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies and to report on their implementation. To date, more than 20 000 businesses – more than half of them SMEs – in over 160 countries have committed to the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact.
Although business leaders are aligned with the Global Compact’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) with the majority agreeing that the private sector plays a crucial role in achieving SDGs and making a public commitment to at least one SDG, in reality, 85% of SDG indicators are off track. Only 18% of companies globally are on track to reach net-zero operations by 2050, the global gender pay gap is nowhere near being closed and one in three workers earn less than they need to afford a decent standard of living.
Rethabile Mbokodi, Programme Manager at the United Nations Global Compact Network South Africa explained that the current business landscape presents both cyclical barriers in the form of high inflation and interest rates, competing priorities and geopolitical instabilities, as well as structural barriers in the form of an inability to influence supply chains, long payback periods, a lack of SDG impact measurement and data, and a lack of policy incentives for achieving the aims of the Global Compact.
While South Africa has made strides towards achieving the SDGs, particularly around poverty reduction, education and health, challenges remain as the country continues to navigate complex socio-economic issues, including unemployment, inequality and the impacts of climate change.
South Africa’s voluntary national review report – due to be presented in July 2025 at the UN High Level Political Forum – is the result of extensive participation across industries. It reveals shifting priorities around SDGs with climate action, partnership for the goals and zero hunger seeing the sharpest rise while innovation, education and responsible consumption and production have become less of a priority.
The top SDG priorities vary significantly across industries, based on where businesses feel they can maximise impact, revealed Mbokodi. Companies are concerned that policy is not innovating quickly enough with policy compliance remaining too difficult, too resource consuming and too punitive. Businesses want the process to be simpler, with more consistency and transparency, and a bigger focus on incentives.
United Nations Global Compact –Rethabile Mbokodi
Globally, the plastics industry is at a crossroads, facing challenges from policy makers, environmental groups and the public to transform its practices, said Benny Mermans, Chair of the World Plastics Council. The World Plastics Council is the only organisation that brings together the entire industry under a global umbrella to enable the future of the plastics industry through direct dialogue, engagement and aligned communications. It represents 80% of global plastics production from Asia, the Middle East, North and South America and Europe and is the only global plastics association consulting with the UN.
Mermans pointed out that the Global Plastics Treaty is one of many current and future globally binding instruments that will directly impact the industry’s operations. “The only way to successfully navigate these issues is by uniting behind one strong and global voice.”
He added that, “Accelerating the transition to a circular economy will require ambitious goals and substantial effort from all stakeholders and can only be possible if we work together.”
The World Plastics Council believes it has a vital role to play in supporting this collaboration. It has called for globally standardised criteria on design to allow circularity to be developed. To achieve circularity, says the council, requires that producers design for it, including designing for reuse and recycling. It has also called for clear and timebound targets for the inclusion of recycled content in plastic products to create demand for recycled plastics and to stimulate investments; a globally standardised approach to problem plastics; funding to develop infrastructure; and measures to support the trade of plastic waste and recycled materials based on national capabilities.
World Plastics Council – Benny Mermans
Adolf Makgatho, Managing Partner and Vincent Moll, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company said they expect four key forces to influence the development of the recycled plastics markets. An accelerating trend which is having a positive effect on the market is the fact that brand owners have made circular plastics commitments in response to consumer pressure and are making progress on delivering on their targets. Another positive trend is that countries are implementing recycling targets. The EU, for example, aims to achieve a 65% recycling rate by 2030 and is restricting or banning the option of landfill.
Encouragingly, the introduction of new advanced recycling technologies is enabling new streams of plastic waste to be recycled at scale and higher quality of output.
Another trend is feedstock quality and availability. The challenge, however, is that waste generation exceeds the volume being recycled. Quality plastic waste feedstock is constraining the growth in recycling as both mechanical and advanced recyclers compete for material.
McKinsey expects that by 2030, demand for recycled plastic will be twice as high as the supply, creating a shortage of 36 million metric tons a year. As a result, prices are expected to rise significantly. It says now is the right time to invest and scale up to unlock supply with attractive risk and adjusted returns.
The plastic recycling value chain in Africa faces three key challenges: low quantity and quality of feedstock; businesses across the value chain have structurally unfavourable unit economics; and weak local and export market demand. While South African cities have relatively high collection rates, projected to be around 70%, providing high feedstock levels of recycling, there is also a high rate of contamination given that there is no separation at source and improper waste disposal. Mandatory EPR in South Africa, regulations around recycled content and a ban on single use plastic are all positive trends while the rise of nascent technology and start-ups augers well for the future.
The circular plastics ecosystem can work with scale not constrained by technology but by the ability to orchestrate a new ecosystem between offtakers, available feedstock and capital deployment.
Husky Injection Molding is the largest brand-name supplier of injection moulding equipment and services to the plastics industry with operations in more than 140 countries. Currently 57% of the recycled PET processed for bottles globally is done with Husky equipment. Benoit Vuillermoz, Business Manager at Husky Injection Molding, revealed some of the advances that are already in place. The company is moving to 100% recycled plastic bottles for all its locally produced brands in the Netherlands and Norway, tethered closures and attached bottle caps are making it easier to collect and recycle the whole package, while labeless bottles are already in existence.
Mckinsey – Adolf Makgatho & Vincent Moll
Husky – Benoit Vuillermoz
Chemical recycling, also known as advanced recycling or molecular recycling, are terms given to a group of technologies that can convert mixed and/or contaminated plastics into ‘virgin-like’ raw materials. It produces recycled plastics from hard-to-recycle waste plastics that are highly suitable for complex end applications like food contact, medical products, or for safety critical applications (such as automotive) which is not always possible with mechanical recycling.
Chiven Manilall, Senior Technical Specialist for Base Chemicals at Sasol said he believed that chemical recycling could play an important role in the circular plastics chain. “The technology space is evolving at a rapid rate to produce more efficient and high-value product portfolios with hard to recycle plastic feeds. Chemical recycling is currently a complimentary process to mechanical recycling and could accelerate the transition to a more circular economy. There remains a large portion of the local plastics value chain that’s linear and chemical recycling could assist in changing this position. However, to achieve this will require collaboration amongst stakeholders.”
The global target of 20% to 30% recycled content for packaging by 2030 is not realistic, said Maarten Stolk, Business Developer at Ioniqa Technologies. “Although Europe is making progress and has increased its installed capacity mechanical recycling and the volume it collects, it’s still not enough to meet 2025 targets, let alone 2030 targets. The target of 25% recycled PET can only be reached when all bottles are collected and recycled.”
