Service Issue 85

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waste
The South African Plastic Pact
Opening remarks by Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment at the South African Plastic Pact
CEO Engagement Breakfast, Cape Town.
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“The United Nations Environment programme tells us that around
the world, one-million plastic bottles are purchased every minute,
while up to five-trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year. In
total, half of all plastic produced is designed for single-use purposes
– used just once and then thrown away.
A recent Business Day article said that by 2050 there will be so much
plastic in the sea that its volume will equate to 33-billion elephants!
Plastics including microplastics are now becoming part of the
earth’s fossil record and a marker of the Anthropocene, our current
geological era. They have even given their name to a new marine
microbial habitat called the “plastisphere”.
Globally pressure has increased to secure multilateral efforts on
tackling plastic pollution. In 2022, the Fifth Session of the United
Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA5) decided that a legally
binding instrument should be developed to coordinate global efforts
to end plastic pollution.
Through the South African Plastics Pact and
other forms of government action, our country is
making progress in addressing plastic pollution.
The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
met in 2023 to consider the zero-draft text of this instrument. One
of the key obligatory measures proposed by the zero draft-text of
the legally binding instrument is the reduction of problematic and
avoidable plastic products, including short-lived and single-use
plastic products and products with intentionally added microplastics.
I have been briefed by the South African negotiators that were
in Nairobi (INC-3) that although South Africa and other member
states called for intersessional work to exchange information on
problematic and avoidable plastic products, consensus could not be
reached at the third meeting.
This is disappointing news and reflects the difficult road which lies
ahead for effective action at a global level to combat plastic pollution.
I am, however, pleased to say today that through the South African
Plastics Pact and other forms of government action, our country is
making progress in addressing plastic pollution.
Four and a half years ago when I was appointed to this ministry,
I was lobbied to ban short-lived and single-use plastics. At that time,
I had to weigh up the consequences of this action for the plastics
industry and the likelihood of such a ban being enforceable.
Having weighed up the issues I concluded that a combination of
voluntary approaches to the plastics industry coupled with improved
household and community waste disposal and the creation of
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes was a better option.
Through this approach, I am pleased to say that the South African
Plastic Pact has already identified unnecessary and problematic
plastic products and is committed to eliminating unnecessary and
problematic plastics; ensuring that 100% of all plastic packaging
is reusable, recyclable or compostable and that 70% of plastic
packaging is effectively recycled. It is also committed to using 30%
of average post-consumer recycled content in plastic packaging.
From the side of government in 2020 we adopted the National
Waste Management Strategy, which prioritises three strategies:
• Support and strengthen municipal waste management services to
prevent plastic from leaking into the environment.
• Increase waste diversion from landfill through various approaches
including EPR schemes to collect, reuse and recycle plastic waste
to promote a circular economy in the plastic industry.
• Promote public awareness and clean-up campaigns to remove
plastic waste from rivers, wetlands and beaches. Enforcing
compliance is also an area of focus.
In 2020, government also introduced the Extended Producer
Responsibility regulations which called for EPR schemes for plastic
32 | Service magazine