South Africa’s 2021 recycling heroes announced
Enterprising individuals and organisations across SA are rethinking the recyclability of packaging, educating and uplifting communities, and creating revenue streams among waste reclaimers and SMMEs to boost the circular economy and the environment. Among the eco-warriors making a tangible impact on sustainability and the circular economy are 13 individuals and organisations who have been lauded for their environmental efforts by the national PET Extended Producer Responsibility body, Petco.
Announcing this year’s winners of the annual Petco Awards, chief executive officer Cheri Scholtz said these recycling champions had seen the environmental and economic value of post-consumer PET recycling. “We are proud to celebrate these extraordinary people and organisations across the country for their contribution. Their success shows that PET plastic waste is not trash,” said Scholtz.
The category winners in this year’s recycling awards include a company turning traditionally unrecycled material into pallets made from 97% rPET, a reclaimer so determined to start a recycling business that he sold his car, and a Johannesburg resident who forged a unique resident-reclaimer recycling initiative.
2021 PETCO AWARDS CATEGORY WINNERS:
CATEGORY: Environmental Education and Awareness Initiative
Winner: Giving Them Wings Foundation NPC (Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape) – Click here for a short interview with Siya Ntsumpa, founder of Giving Them Wings Foundation, on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Top Woman in Collection and Recycling
Winner: Loretta Waterboer of LW Recycling and Trade (Fisantekraal, Western Cape) – Click here for a short interview with Waterboer on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Recycling Partnership Gamechanger
Joint winner: African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) and the Bordeaux South Homeowners Association (Johannesburg, Gauteng) – Click here for a short interview with the project founder, Angela Schaerer, and ARO on YouTube.
CATEGORY: PET-repreneur
Joint winner: Mandlenkosi Nkosi of Man Recycling (Boksburg, Gauteng) – Click here for a short interview with Nkosi on YouTube.
CATEGORY – PET-repreneur
Joint winner: Matsobane Mawasha of Circular Green (Zebediela, Limpopo) – Click here for a short interview with Mawasha on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Best Community Recycling Initiative
Joint winner: The ReTrade Project (Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape) – Click here for a short interview with Maria Grewar, founder and director of The ReTrade Project, on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Best New End-Use Products
Winner: Palletplast (Pty) Ltd (Blackheath, Western Cape) – Click here for a short interview with Christopher Smith, director of Palletplast, on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Design for Circularity
Winner: The Mpact Versapak company (Paarl, Western Cape) – Click here for a short interview with the company on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Media Spotlight
Winner: Pippa Hudson, Cape Talk Radio (Cape Town, Western Cape) – Click here for a short interview with Hudson on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Best Community Recycling Initiative
Joint winners: Belville Recycling and Trolley Project (Cape Town, Western Cape) – Click here for a short interview with the winners on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Recycling Partnership Gamechanger
Joint winner: GreenUP (Stellenbosch, Western Cape) – Click here to watch a short interview with the GreenUP project partners on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Local Authority Recycling Innovation
Joint winner: City of Cape Town (Cape Town, Western Cape) – Click here for a short interview with the City of Cape Town on YouTube.
CATEGORY: Local Authority Recycling Innovation
Joint winner: The Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA) (KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga) – Click here for a short interview with the department on YouTube.
Photo: CoCT Kraafontein material recovery facility
