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“Urgent action is required to combat plastic pollution and its detrimental impacts on human health, the economy and the environment. Today we are marking World Environment Day and I am visiting two recycling plants in Cape Town that are supported through Producer Responsibility Organisations to gain insights into the roles Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes are playing in plastic recycling” said the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy.

The Two projects, Waste Want, located in Kraaifontein, and CRDC SA RESIN8, in the Blackheath industrial area of Cape Town are involved in different aspects of the recycling value chain. Waste Want employs 200 people and diverts one thousand tons of plastic waste from landfills every month. CRDC SA RESIN8 is a site where plastic is mixed and converted into an aggregate modifier for the construction industry. The company currently processes 450 kg of waste a day and aims to reach 610 tons per month when it reaches full production.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in South Africa, a little over 2,5 million tons of plastic are produced annually. Poor waste management practices mean that as much as half of post -consumer plastic is not properly disposed of and risks leaking into the environment.

Last week, at the 2nd Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC2) on Plastic Pollution in Paris, France, a total of 175 nations, including South Africa, reaffirmed their commitment to developing an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment by the end of 2024.

“In my view, such an international legally binding agreement aims to bring about greater accountability, cooperation and innovation between government, industry, extended producer schemes and waste reclaimers to address the plastic pollution problem. In South Africa, the negotiating process is already bringing about greater agreement collaboration between all stakeholders as they work to identify achievable goals to ensure plastic waste and pollution is effectively addressed,” said Minister Creecy.

Our country is faced with significant waste management challenges. These include poor landfill practices and sporadic household waste collection as well as unacceptable levels of illegal dumping in many parts of the country.

Our Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for paper and packaging, have begun the important work of diverting waste from landfill sites. Last year over one and a half million tons of paper and packing was diverted from landfill through recycling, recovery, and treatment.

The Department is strengthening compliance and enforcement measures especially against free riders that undermine the collective efforts to address waste management challenges.

The Department’s Recycling Enterprise Support Programme has in the past six years supported 56 start-ups and emerging SMMEs and cooperatives operating within the waste sector providing more than R300 million in financial support, creating 1558 jobs and diverting over 200 000 tonnes of waste from landfills.

To support municipalities our department will focus on improving cleanliness in other Provincial capitals as part of the re-invigorated Presidential Good Green Deeds programme. Here in the Western Cape we will be focusing on the broader Cape Flats region where many formal and informal settlements have inadequate waste removal and plastic leaches into rivers and eventually into the sea.

Through the Expanded Public Works Programme our Department will offer work opportunities to 2000 women, youth and persons with disabilities per province to support the cleaning and greening of provincial capitals by assisting in litter picking in prioritised streets; clearing illegal dumps; planting trees and promoting recycling services. 

Their efforts are being complimented by the thirty-two (32) waste enterprises that have been supported to increase recycling of construction and demolition waste, plastic, packaging, and other waste streams. 

This year the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is once again partnering with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on World Environment Day to raise public awareness about the Triple Planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution by observing World Environment Day under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

“Together we are calling on all citizens to observe this Environment Month by finding creative and innovative ways to remove plastic pollution from our communities, so we care for our environment. The smallest act of picking up litter in your neighbourhood could be the start of something amazing in your country,” said Minister Creecy.

Minister Creecy, Dr. Meseret Teklemariam Zemedkun (UNEP - Southern Africa Sub-Regional Office), Dr. Ayodele Odusola (UNDP – Resident Representative), Mr. Nelson Muffuh (The UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa), Cllr Eddie Andrews (Executive Deputy Mayor: City of Cape Town), POLYCO and PETCO concluded the World Environment Day 2023 commemoration with a beach clean-up at Macassar Beach.

Issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment