Plastics|SA has released the plastics recycling figures for the year ending 2017. For the seventh year in a row, the recycling of plastic has continued to grow.
More than 334 727t of plastics are recycled back into raw materials. Our country’s input recycling rate is at 43.7 per cent, which is well above Europe’s recycling rate of 31.1 per cent.
Plastics|SA’s executive director, Anton Hanekom, comments: ‘South Africa is doing phenomenally well with recycling. I believe the latest results show we are slowly but steadily beating the odds.’
Low-Density Polyethylene (PE-LD and PE-LLD) packaging films are the most widely recycled material in South Africa. This is the most common plastic globally, with around 80 million tonnes produced annually. This material is primarily used in plastic bags, plastic films, wrappings and geomembranes.
‘Despite the challenges experienced in the end markets for these recycled materials and the growing opposition to single-use plastics made of PE-LD, this was the most widely recycled plastic material in 2017. The barrier to entry is very low as most collectors can identify PE-LD films and markets are well established, although not necessarily growing,’ says Hanekom.
PET beverage bottle recycling increased steadily over the last four years. The drought in the Western Cape caused a spike in the sales of mineral water, which put more PET water bottles in the recycling stream and simultaneously created a growing demand for PET bottles produced using recycled content. This relieved pressure on limited virgin supply. Products made from High-Density polyethylene (PE-HD) such as bottles, drums and crates, were the third largest recycled polymer in terms of volume. The demand for milk bottles also increased in 2017. PP tonnages showed growth too, including the recycling of PP film with the well-established woven tapes, packaging items and domestic ware.
