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“Today’s primary task is to now move beyond innovative pilot programmes and significant local partnerships to craft a roadmap for our country was a whole to address the serious problem of plastic waste leaking into our environment” said Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy.

Speaking on Thursday at a  virtual Plastic Colloquium feedback session, Minister Creecy said this intervention was necessary to address the fact that almost one third of plastic waste leaks into the environment with devastating effects on water systems and marine biomes. 

The virtual meeting was organised to take stock of  work done since the commitments made at the First Plastic Colloquium in November 2019.  The meeting included representatives of the private sector, NGOs’, civil society and government .

The Minister emphasised that any solution to the plastic waste problem must  include improved household waste collection at municipal level, the role of household waste separation and waste reclaimers, as well as educating communities about the dangers of plastic waste in the environment and the role they can play in preventing it. 

Meeting under the theme Plastic Waste and the Circular Economy, the feedback session comes a week after the publication of the Extended Producer Responsibility requirements for the paper, packaging and some single use product sectors, as well as the lighting sector and the electrical and electronic equipment industry to register their plans to manage waste post the consumer stage of a product’s life cycle with the Department.  

This gives effect to Section 18 of the National Environmental Management Waste Act, 2008 and also charts the new approach to the management of waste in South Africa.  It will make a significant contribution in the diversion of waste from landfill, thereby increasing the recycling rate to achieve the objectives of the National Waste Management Strategy. 

Extended Producer Responsibility is a means through which the manufacturers and importers of products are required to bear a significant degree of responsibility for the impact their products have on the environment, from manufacture to the day they are discarded.   This ensures that products that can be recycled, or up-cycled, are and that waste products diverted to landfill is kept at a minimum, fulfilling the Waste Management Strategy 2020’s goal of creating a Circular Economy. 

“This EPR regulatory framework eliminates free riders in the system. Annual targets for post-consumer waste management have been set and the producers will be accounting to the country each year on progress towards meeting these targets. We need to applaud the efforts of those producers that have committed these targets even before the Regulations were published,” said the Minister

“We will be also using the government’s District Model to expand and strengthen our Municipal interventions on keeping South Africa clean.   The Department is also presently assisting Municipalities to apply for the Municipal Infrastructure Grant in order to procure compactor trucks that aid in waste collection and landfill compactors for operation of landfill sites,” said Minister Creecy.

Referring to the call by advocacy groups for a total ban on plastic bag use, Minister Creecy said the colloquium needs to take a firm decision to remove a range of single use plastics from our production and consumption processes with clear and incremental targets on an annual basis. Government would work closely with the industry to avoid any unintended consequences while we explore alternatives to plastic bags to mitigate the resultant socio-economic impacts.

At the 2019 Plastic Colloquium six working groups were created to deal with product standards and certification, design, the integration of the informal waste economy into the formal sector, biodegradable and compostable plastics, and education and awareness.  The other working group dealt with the infrastructure required to ensure industry is able to deal with the amounts of plastic waste being recycled and repurposed, alongside the development and innovation required to transition the industry within the Recycling Economy.  

The new regulatory framework has been strongly influenced by the various Working Groups set up after the 2019 Colloquium and therefore includes matters such as ensuring environmental labelling conform to acceptable SABS standards and promote public awareness and influence greener choices on the part of consumers.

Other standards that have been critical to the focus of the Plastic Colloquium are those of compostable plastics.

“If we are to look purely at figures, it is clear that actions taken by government and the private sector are resulting in positive change,” the Minister said. “ the use of recylate plastic has increased from 293 000 tons in 2015 to 337 000 tons in 2019”, with 58 000 income opportunities and R2billion injected into the micro enterprise sector” she added.

Minister Creecy said as the country focused on building back the economy and society, more sustainable developmental paths must be sought.

“The Circular Waste Economy presents us with one such opportunity that offers opportunities for sustainable resource use, technological innovation and job creation,” said the Minister.

Issued by The Department of Environmental , Forestry And Fisheries