Ahead of Global Recycling Day on March 18, producer responsibility organisation Petco asserts that even small actions can make a big impact.

The organisation laments that valuable recyclable packaging ends up in landfill or as litter in the environment daily, which are wasted opportunities to save resources, reduce pollution and help create income for those working in the circular economy.

Petco is urging consumers to separate recyclable packaging from their general waste, whether at work, home, school, university or elsewhere, starting on March 18.

Petco CEO Telly Chauke says there are many benefits to recycling that appeal to different consumers; therefore, he urges the public to find their reason to recycle and to implement the systems to do so, including at household, neighbourhood or regional level.

The organisation itself will be celebrating Global Recycling Day by participating in clean-ups, and visiting schools as well as a homeowners’ association where Petco has been working to boost collection and recycling projects.

Chauke references Petco’s two documentary-type episodes on YouTube as good examples of how collection and recycling journeys can evolve. The videos, titled ‘message in a bottle’ and ‘sorted’ can both be found on Petco’s YouTube channel.

He emphasises the importance of working together to keep resources within the economy; building and developing collection and recycling infrastructure; encouraging innovation in packaging; and keeping packaging out of the environment.

PRACTICAL TIPS

Petco recommends starting one’s recycling journey by identifying what is recyclable. Common recyclable items include clear water and soft drink bottles, jars and fruit juice and milk cartons.

The organisation suggests that consumers check the labels of products for recycling instructions or asking a waste-picker in the community what products to dispose of separately for easy collection. Thereafter they can set up a dedicated recycling bin or bag to separate items that can be recycled.

In terms of shopping, Petco suggests consumers aim to buy products encased in recyclable packaging, as well as to remove leftover food or liquids from recyclable packaging before discarding to prevent it from being contaminated.

Notably, while there is no need to wash the packaging before putting it in a recycling bin, it is handy to flatten plastic bottles and cartons to save space in the bin.

In South Africa, there are various ways to dispose of your recyclables responsibly. If municipal kerbside collection isn’t available, recyclables can be dropped off at drop-off sites, buy-back centres or at the premises of community recycling initiatives – or they can be left out for a waste-picker on refuse collection day.

Petco’s website has information about drop-off sites, buy-back centres and collection services across the country: https://petco.co.za/find-a-drop-off-site/.