Beverage makers South African Breweries (SAB) and Corona are launching a partnership with local recycled materials company Ramtsilo to strengthen the local plastic recycling chain and achieve a net-zero plastic footprint locally in South Africa.

With this long-term partnership with Ramtsilo, the companies aim to collect and recycle hard-to-recycle plastics in Gauteng and the Free State.

Ramtsilo is a 100% black-female-owned company that provides a sustainable solution to the global plastic pollution pandemic. Ramtsilo will facilitate the plastic collection programme, provide specialised sensitisation and training among waste pickers, and will also repurpose these plastics into environment-friendly, fire-tested bricks that can be used in houses, buildings and roads.

“We are really proud of this partnership. SAB's sustainability agenda aims to strengthen and support the local recycling chain, recognising the importance of local recyclers in the plastic waste fight, and maintain resources in use and away from our environment, preserving it for future generations,” says SAB sustainability director Josh Hammann.

In 2021, Corona became the first beverage brand in the world to achieve a net-zero plastic footprint.

The achievement of a net-zero plastic footprint means that Corona recovers more plastic from the environment than it releases into the world and it focuses on redesign efforts to progressively eliminate plastic. This initiative falls in line with SAB’s sustainability goal which is to have 100% of its products in primary packaging that is returnable or made from majority recycled content by 2025.

Achieving a net-zero plastic footprint is part of a long sustainability journey. Supporting a business in the recycling value chain is exactly how SAB and Corona are contributing to creating a circular economy and taking action to keep plastic out of communities and the environment, says Corona South Africa marketing manager Thomas Lawrence.

Corona's vision is to be a sustainability leader in consumer-packaged goods, taking significant steps to help protect the world's oceans and beaches from marine plastic pollution.

“We have a duty to decrease our impact on this world and I am proud to work for a brand that takes this duty seriously. Of course, none of this would be possible without the aid of our partners,” he says.