SOUTH AFRICA – The SA Plastics Pact welcomed Naspers and its subsidiary businesses, Takealot and Media24 to tackle plastic packaging waste by creating a circular economy for plastics.
Launched in 2020 as part of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative, SA Plastics Pact currently has 44 members representing key organizations across the plastics value chain, including Unilever, Woolworths, Clicks, Food Lovers Market, Spar and Pick n Pay, among others.
Naspers and its subsidiary businesses have now joined the pact and will collaborate with packaging producers, brand owners, retailers, recyclers, governments and NGOs to reduce plastic packaging waste and create a circular economy for plastics.
The pact aims to transform the country’s plastic packaging use by taking action on problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models.
The pact also aims to ensure that 100% of plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable and establish a 70% effective recycling rate for plastic packaging.
In addition, it targets the inclusion of an average of 30% recycled content across all plastic packaging.
Naspers said that Takealot is already taking some proactive steps to tackle the plastic problem. For example, the online retailer has installed recycling stations at its two flagship pickup points and plans to roll these out to 90 new pickup points.
The group also recycles 98% of its onsite waste, ensures that all of its paper packaging suppliers are FSC certified and promotes recycling instructions on all of its packaging.
“Among several other ways to reduce packaging, the company also ships certain categories of products, such as air fryers and microwaves, in their original packaging, avoiding the use of transportation boxes, thereby eliminating the need for double packaging,” said Naspers in a statement.
Prajna Khanna, Global Head of Sustainability at Naspers added: “We recognize the opportunities for our platform businesses, like Takealot, to help improve the entire packaging ecosystem.
“These companies are developing innovative solutions and becoming a source of inspiration for market peers and business partners alike.
“While there is still much work to be done, the progress made so far is a positive sign that South Africa is moving towards a more environmentally responsible future.”
In 2021, 34.7 million problematic or unnecessary plastic items were removed, eliminated or replaced with more suitable alternatives by members of the SA Plastics Pact, with 81.2% of plastic packaging placed on the market currently being recycled.
Naspers said it has done its own research into the plastics landscape in South Africa, particularly around plastic packaging and delivery platforms, which impacts its businesses like Takealot.
It found that a rise in South Africa’s population and urbanization has resulted in a surge in per capita waste generation, with consequent stress on current landfills and significant waste leakage into the environment.
An informal sector has emerged in the recycling economy, which has become a critical part of the process, with 60,000 to 90,000 people earning their livelihoods from informal waste picking.
Although very critical to the value chain, only 3.6% of plastics recyclables are obtained directly from waste pickers, the group found.
“The South African market is still highly dominated by virgin plastics – in 2020, South Africa consumed approximately 1.74 million tonnes of plastic polymers, showing an opportunity to increase recycling,” notes the report.
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