South African retailers and brands managed to divert more than 34-million problematic or unnecessary plastic items from landfills in 2021, a new report by the South African Plastics Pact (SA Plastics Pact) finds.

A significant contributor to the mountains of plastic waste seen in South Africa’s landfills, or in the environment, are problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging items, which are items that cannot be reused, recycled or composted, and which often require hazardous chemicals in their production, which hinders the recyclability of other items.

Because many of these items are small and will not be collected for recycling, they are likely to end up as waste in the environment, hence the need for retailers and brands to phase out the manufacturing of these items.

Some of the problematic or unnecessary plastic items include polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shrink sleeves on PET beverage bottles, thin bags at tills, PVC bottles, pallet wrap and labels, plastic stickers on fruit and vegetables, thin filmed barrier bags for fruit and vegetables, plastic straws and stirrers, single-use plastic picnic cutlery and plates, cotton buds with plastic stems, plastic lollipop sticks and plastic microbeads in cosmetics.

Of the 96-million problematic or unnecessary items sold or distributed by SA Plastics Pact members in 2021, the biggest problems were and remain the PET and PVC sleeves on PET bottles, which contributed 475 t, followed by the thin lightweight barrier bags at tills.

SA Plastics Pact explains in the ‘Breaking the Plastic Waves’ report that the shrink sleeves discolour and disrupt the recycling of the PET bottles, which are otherwise one of the most recyclable items in the country.

The 34.7-million fewer problematic or unnecessary items sold by SA Plastics Pact members in 2021 were a result of a variety of strategies implemented by members, including the introduction of paper stems and sticks for earbuds and lollipop sticks, and the removal of plastic straws, stirrers and stickers.

As of the end of 2021, about 3.2-million PET and PVC shrink sleeves on PET beverage bottles had been removed by retailers or brands, while 19-million barrier bags at tills were removed during 2022.

The 43 members that comprise the SA Plastic Pact include Woolworths, Spar, Clicks, Pick n Pay, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, Pepsico and Tiger Brands.

For example, Pick n Pay has entirely removed barrier bags at tills, while Clicks has reduced PET and PVC labels on PET bottles, selling just 130 kg in 2021, compared with 1.4 t in 2020.

Some members are looking at reusing dispensing solutions to eliminate on-the-go packaging.

By supporting brands that are making these strides, SA Plastics Pact encourages consumers to be part of the solution to curbing plastic waste and help reduce the 41 kg per capita per year of plastic waste that continues to be generated in South Africa.