Plastics Pact Urged Retailers to Reduce Plastic Usage

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The new report published by the South African Plastics Pact (SA Plastics Pact) noted that the country’s retailers and brands managed to divert more than 34-million problematic or unnecessary plastic items from landfills during the entire year 2021.

It noted that plastic waste in landfills and environment mostly comprised of problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging items, which cannot be reused, recycled or composted. Moreover, these often uses hazardous chemicals during their production process and prevent the recyclability of other items in the waste stream.

RELATED NEWS:

Plastic Bag Ban Commences in Easton

UNIDO to Impart Skills to Prevent Plastics Leakage

The Plastics Pact report stated that they mostly end up in the environment as waste, as they are small in size and are not collected for recycling. It urged South African retailers and brands to phase out the manufacturing of problematic or unnecessary plastic items.

According to the report, the members belonging to SA Plastics Pact either sold or distributed a total of around 96 million problematic or unnecessary items in 2021. Among these, the biggest contributors were the PET and PVC sleeves on PET bottles, which totalled 475 t, followed by the thin lightweight barrier bags at tills. The Pact members sold 34.7-million fewer problematic or unnecessary items during the year, mainly due to various strategies implemented such as removal of certain items and replacement of some items with paper alternatives.