South Africa’s vinyls industry once again stepped up this year to help support and participate in Clean-Up & Recycle SA Week that took place from 12 – 17 September 2022. The Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA) and many of its members and other industry role-players not only volunteered their time and energy to participate in clean-ups around the country, but also donated much-needed resources to help keep clean-up crews safe and dry.

“PVC (or vinyl) is primarily used in building and construction products such as pipes, gutters, windows and doors or flooring. All of these products have a long life-span (fifty years or more) and are therefore not often found in the environment as litter or visible pollutants. However, as an industry we want to show our commitment to working towards a cleaner, healthier world,” says Monique Holtzhausen, CEO of SAVA.

Gumboot donations

Two of South Africa’s biggest manufacturers of PVC gumboots, Neptun Boot and BBF Safety, generously donated gumboots to clean-up crews who participated in river clean-ups around the country. Douw Steyn, Sustainability Director of Plastics SA, awarded the Neptun gumboots to Dr Emmanuel Sakado, Project Manager of the Inkwazi Isu (Fish Eagle) Project on the Durban South Coast for cleaning the Mbokodweni River at Umbogintwini on national River Clean-Up Day, while Kabelo Kabelo Phakoe, Plastics SA’s Sustainability Project Coordinator, delivered the BBF Safety boots to Hennops Revival, Green ZA, Mpumalanga Provincial Department, the SoulBent project, Live Life Always and Envirocare Thembisa.

Participation in clean-ups

SAVA members enthusiastically participated in  beach and community clean-ups. Marley Pipe Systems coordinated clean-ups of children's play parks in Duduza and Nigel (Gauteng), Continental Compounders participated in a beach clean-up at Addington Beach on the KZN South Coast where they managed to fill twenty five bags of litter, and the Mpact Versapak team showed their passion for the environment by helping the Mosselbank River Conservation Team clean the Fisantekraal community in the Western Cape, where they collected and removed an impressive 863 kg of litter.

“SAVA and its members are committed to building sustainability awareness across the value chain in order to address sustainability challenges and develop a circular economy for the vinyls industry. To this end, our Product Stewardship Commitment (PSC) is one of the cornerstones that drive all our decisions and activities. However, we don’t just want to pay lip service to our environmental and sustainability ambitions. We believe that actions speak loudest and are therefore proud of our industry’s active participation in this year’s collection and recycling efforts,” Monique concludes.