Plastics and packaging: Reducing waste

By Nitasha Baijnath-Pillay and contributions by Dr Mariana Jooste (Hortgro Science), Ms Johanna Nathanson (Freshfel Europe), Ms Kirsten Barnes (GreenCape)

The Hortgro Packhouse Action Group (PAG) pioneers advancements in the pome industry by stimulating innovation, testing new technologies, and identifying issues to enhance competitiveness. The PAG has been active on plastics and packaging waste for many years, and addressed the issue on various platforms, with dedication to the subject in the past.

PAG is working towards reviewing alternatives and putting together a plastics action plan for how to deal with plastics that are exiting the system. PAG is trying to raise awareness and doing research for alternatives and liaising with suppliers in South Africa, and establishing what is on the market for us to use as alternatives.

Problematic plastics (poor for recycling and potentially harmful)  that Tesco (UK Plastics Pact member) will no longer allow are PVC corner pieces in pallets, PVC bags, PVC sealing tapes in bags, BOPP laminates in Flow wrap and PS bread clips in pome fruit, while in stone fruit, the PVC cling wrap and MAP (complex of plastic mixtures) in life cycle bag are no longer accepted.  The PAG has developed a “red plastics component list” with possible alternatives for use at the packhouse level. An amber list has also been developed, which indicates that alternatives for trays (Expanded Polystyrene) are being researched as well. This indicates the seriousness of the non-cyclability of the various components. The aim is to avoid/restrict the use, where possible, and to look for alternative materials. We also took note of issues that impact on cyclability of materials, for instance, colour printing on plastic bags. (Download it here: Tesco categories)

Hortgro, together with GreenCape, is engaging with the Plastics industry (recyclers and innovators) for alternatives and longer-term solutions so that South Africa can meet its plastics Pact target whilst also complying with retailer requirements on export products. Hortgro Science is also funding research on plastic alternatives.

Plastics Pact

The Plastics Pact is a bold initiative bringing together the entire plastics packaging value chain behind a common vision and committing to a set of ambitious targets. This unique pact between governments, businesses, local authorities, NGOs and consumers. This vision is now supported by 68 members who are responsible for 80% of plastic packaging sold in UK supermarkets, and half of all packaging placed on the market.

The SA Plastics Pact is a collaborative initiative aiming for a circular economy for plastics in South Africa.  SA Plastics Pact comprises both business and supporting members, including key players across the plastics value chain and organizations with regional or national influence. Hortgo, under the auspices of Fruit South Africa, is a supporting member of the SA Plastics Pact. There are specific, ambitious and time-bound targets to address the design, production, use, recovery and recycling of plastic packaging, including primary, secondary and tertiary formats. For example, target 1 focused on the phase out of problematic plastics, such as stickers made from plastic that are currently used directly on individual fruit and vegetables in South Africa by December 2021. See https://www.saplasticspact.org.za/ for their Annual Report 2023 and progress made on achieving the SA targets.

The UK Plastics Pact members have also agreed to reduce problematic plastics in the UK from their businesses and have set out to phase out Polystyrene, for example, by 2019. Tesco, a major signatory of the UK Plastics Pact, aims to eliminate problem plastics and ensure 100% of plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, and has pledged to eliminate unnecessary wrapping and stop using unrecyclable plastics. South Africa, being a significant UK fruit exporter, is also expected to comply with consumer demand for the phase-out of problematic and nonrecyclable plastics and packaging materials.

UPDATE: There are a few organisations in South Africa which have developed Design for Recycling (D4R) guidelines for packaging designers. The problem is that there is much variability between these guidelines, which often represents the interests of the organisation providing them. SAPRO (South African Plastics Recycling Organization), being the industry association of plastic recyclers, is well placed to guide from the perspective of plastic recyclers, who are the ultimate decision-makers on whether a certain packaging type will get recycled or not.  To this end, SAPRO and their partners, Designed For Earth (D4E), with funding from the Nedbank Green Trust and Polyco, developed an online Design for Recycling Tool (https://designedforearth.com/ ). This online tool provides easy-to-use, design guidance FREE of charge for the assessment of packaging design decisions against the ability of the South African recycling industry to recycle that item “in practice and at scale”. For more information on SAPRO and product design/resources, see https://www.plasticrecyclingsa.co.za/

Additional reading in our online technical magazine, Fresh Quarterly:

• Join the circular economy: https://www.freshquarterly.co.za/join-the-circular-economy/
• Fresh Quarterly Issue 7: What’s Next for Plastics: https://www.freshquarterly.co.za/edition/fresh-quarterly-issue-07-december-2019/
• South Africa adapts to PPWR future | Article | Fruitnet