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SANBWA and its members shall
support post consumer PET recycling initiatives
SANBWA members shall:
- Only support suppliers of PET bottles that contributes
to the PETco recycling levy.
- Establish a drop-off centre for the public at the bottling
facility and all distribution centres.
- Add the “please recycle” sign on all labels.
- Use recycling friendly materials or recycling optimal
materials as per the table below.
SANBWA shall:
- Formed an informal association with PETco,
cooperating in sharing of information
- Facilitate easy recycling through requiring members
to use recycle friendly materials
- Educate the consumer on the bottled water industry’s
efforts and regarding their own environmental
responsibility
 PETCO
is the plastic industry’s first joint effort to
self-regulate post consumer PET recycling. The company is
financed by a voluntary recycling levy of R200 per ton
which is paid by converters on resin purchased, and
grant-in-aid paid to it by brand owners, retailers and the
resin producers to fulfil their role of extended producer
responsibility. PET is the plastic used to produce soft
drink and water (beverage) bottles, identified by the
number 1 in the triangle found on the packaging. The “1”
is the world-wide industry measure for identifying the
type of polymer used in the packaging. PET is also used to
produce plastic jars, containers, trays and clamshell
packages. As a polymer manufactured from oil based raw
material, PET is tough and resilient and 100% recyclable.
Discarded PET bottles are collected, baled and delivered
to the recycling plant where they are colour sorted,
washed, granulated, re-washed, extruded (made into long
thin strips of plastic) and cut into pellets, before being
recycled into a number of items we encounter every day:
fibre filling for jackets, duvets and pillows, non-woven
automotive carpets, magnetic strips on smart cards or
tennis ball felt. There are well-established markets for
rPET, and demand currently exceeds supply. Future end use
will include its return to bottle manufacturers for
re-use. The key challenge is to collect this post consumer
PET before it gets to landfill.
PETCO was established in December 2004 as a (Pty) Ltd
Company with the specific objective of promoting and
improving the waste management and recycling of post
consumer Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) products on
behalf of all stakeholders in the PET industry in South
Africa. Groundwork was laid five years earlier when
representatives of Coca-Cola, resin manufacturers,
converters and bottlers, formed the PET Committee. An
early initiative was the creation of SAPR (South African
Polyester Recyclers). Stakeholders, led by Coca-Cola, then
decided on a more broadly based approach covering
educational issues, partnerships with role-players beyond
the industry, the fostering of strong PET collection
streams and a widening of the recycling effort by
including other recyclers in the national strategy. PETCO
is headed by a board made up of representatives of
Coca-Cola, the bottlers, resin manufacturers and
converters. A key challenge in the establishment of PETCO
had been the establishment of sustainable and equitable
funding mechanisms for an industry-wide effort. A unique
levy system has secured the voluntary buy-in of industry
players. This PET levy is collected at source by resin
manufacturers SANS Fibres and Hosaf who charge their PET
converters an additional R200 per ton. The resin
manufacturers pass the levies to PETCO every month.
www.petco.co.za
info@petco.co.za
Tel: 0860 147 738
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