Industry recycling initiative South African Plastics Pact member companies have made significant strides towards 2025 circular economy targets for plastic packaging in the country, having invested more than R4-billion since 2020 to redesign South Africa's plastics economy, derisk innovation and build long-term recycling capacity.

For Pact Target 1, which is to eliminate problematic and unnecessary plastics, members have reduced problematic and unnecessary plastic items by 35%, or 55-million units, since 2020.

Significant reductions were seen in straws, down 84%; plastic lollipop sticks, down 79%; and picnic cutlery, which is 74% lower, the South African Plastics Pact's fifth 'Impact Report' shows.

For Target 2, which is to ensure that 100% of plastic packaging is designed for recyclability, 72% of members' packaging portfolios are recyclable, reusable or compostable.

Since 2020, members have increased the amount of recyclable packaging on the market by 28%, or 34 000 t.

Additionally, rigid polyvinyl chloride packaging, which disrupts other recycling processes, has been reduced by 95%, while other poorly recycled packaging has also been reduced by 82%, the Pact says.

Further, for the Pact's Target 3 to ensure a 70% effective recycling rate, South Africa maintains a 50% input recycling rate for plastic packaging.

While national rates fluctuated, the actual tonnage of plastic recycled increased by 9.1% to 471 000 t in 2024, the report shows.

In terms of Target 4's aim to ensure a minimum 30% recycled content, Plastics Pact members achieved an average of 19% recycled content across all plastic packaging.

This represents a 300% increase in the use of post-consumer recycled material since 2020, substituting 30 000 t of virgin plastic. Recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate products has increased by 200%, or 12 000 t.

“By bringing together resin producers, converters, brand owners, retailers, recyclers, civil society organisations, and national and local government, we have deepened collaboration and shared insight into the actions needed to meet our 2025 targets,” says South African Plastics Pact chairperson and PepsiCo Southern Africa public policy and government affairs manager Blain van Wyk.

“Our work has increasingly focused on practical solutions, including improving packaging design for recyclability, growing demand for locally sourced recycled material, supporting reuse and refill models, and building greater transparency through improved data reporting,” he says.

REBOOTED PACT TARGETS
Meanwhile, the Pact is now transitioning to a new set of 2030 targets, which were launched at the end of 2025.

The updated goals include a 20% reduction in virgin plastic intensity, and a shift to measuring output recycling rates to reflect material that is successfully reintroduced into the economy.

The new 2030 Target 1 includes a 20% intensity reduction in virgin-fossil-fuel-based packaging by increasing recycled content, addressing problematic items, and introducing reuse/refill systems.

The 2030 Target 2 aims to ensure that 100% of rigid packaging is recyclable, and the 2030 Target 3 aims to ensure that 70% of flexible packaging is recyclable.

The Pact's 2030 Target 4 aims to ensure a 55% output recycling rate.

The Plastic Reboot is a global five-year project active in 15 countries. In South Africa, this initiative will accelerate progress by focusing on upstream and midstream circular solutions within the food and beverage sector.

It is delivered in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, conservation organisation World Wide Fund for Nature, industrial research organisation the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and green economy promotion organisation GreenCape.

The South African Plastics Pact has reached a point of maturity where ambition is increasingly being translated into measurable action, says GreenCape Circular Economy programme manager Saloshnee Naidoo.

“With the launch of the 2030 targets and the Plastic Reboot project, we are sharpening our focus on systemic changes that will drive South Africa toward a truly future-fit plastics economy,” she says.