South Africa’s mandated EPR schemes show promising early results

SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s shift toward a circular economy is gaining momentum as early results from its mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes reveal encouraging progress, particularly in the collection and recycling of liquid board packaging (LBP).

According to the producer responsibility organization (PRO) Petco, recycling rates for LBP have more than doubled in the past year, marking a 200% increase compared to 2023 figures.

Implemented three years ago, the EPR legislation mandates that producers take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their packaging, including collection and recycling.

Petco, which administers schemes for post-consumer PET and now LBP, has reported meeting its annual targets for PET bottles, jars, and associated closures and labels.

The organization’s CEO, Telly Chauke, expressed optimism, noting that the results validate their operational model, which focuses on building sustainable, end-to-end value chains.

“In only our second year of administering a scheme for these cartons, we’ve collected and recycled three times the volume compared to 2023,” Chauke noted.

This dramatic increase reflects both strategic coordination and increased engagement across the recycling value chain.

Petco’s approach includes collaboration with key industry players, its 29 members include major brands such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Tiger Brands, and Tetra Pak.

These companies are working collectively to ensure their packaging waste is collected and processed responsibly.

The PET recovery rate has grown from just 16% in 2005 to nearly 76% today, setting a benchmark for what could be achieved with LBP in the coming years.

In 2024, Petco partnered with Tetra Pak to roll out a national team of specialist staff tasked with enhancing LBP collection efforts.

These officers act as vital connectors between buy-back centres, waste pickers, municipalities, and industry players, streamlining efforts and ensuring that recyclable material does not end up in landfills.

Petco also invested R70 million (US$3.953m) in 2024 to support the recycling value chain. This funding enabled recycling partners to procure approximately R470 million (US$26.55m) worth of post-consumer packaging materials from small businesses.

These small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) are critical to Petco’s strategy for scaling up collections while also driving socio-economic inclusion.

“Whilst unlocking collections, the work we do in supporting SMMEs also begins to unlock economic advantages for the economically marginalized, thus contributing to government’s goal of socio-economic development,” Chauke concluded.

South Africa’s EPR journey may still be in its early stages, but the results so far point to a model that is both environmentally and economically impactful.

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