Recycling innovation at plastics competition

The South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) is reminding companies or individuals wishing to enter their products for the 2013 Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year Competition that the closing date is around the corner. All entry forms and products entered must be delivered at the Plastics|SA Head Office in Midrand by Monday, the 26th of August 2013.

Currently in its fourth year, this annual competition is hosted in collaboration with Plastics|SA and forms one of the highlights of the local plastic industry’s Clean Up South Africa Week (16-21 September 2013) - an initiative that encourages South Africans to clean-up and recycle where they work, live or play.

According to SAPRO Chairman Douglas Greig, the primary objectives of the competition are to promote the use of recycled plastic materials, highlight their environmental advantages and increase the demand for recyclables.

Raising the profile on recycled products

“Products made from recycled plastic are gaining a wider market acceptance and approval from the consumer. This competition is well supported by brand owners, retailers, converters and the media who are all encouraging innovation and improved methods of recovery and design when using plastic as the material of choice. All the previous years’ winners and finalists testify to the fact that the competition has helped raise the profile of their business and the credibility of their products, resulting in us seeing an increase in both the number and quality of products that are being entered each year,” Greig says.

Previous years’ overall winners include the Ecobarrow by Lasher Tools (2012), the Woolworths 1.5 litre bottle by Polypet (2011) and the Narrow Gauge Railway sleeper manufactured by Tufflex (2010).

Product categories

The organizers of the competition are calling for all South African recyclers, converters and innovators to give their creativity free reign when using recycled plastic in one of the following four product categories:

• Products made from 100 % recyclate
• Products containing a percentage post-consumer recyclate
• Products made from a mixture of materials
• Novel and Artistic products - i.e. articles made from discarded plastics products

Judging Criteria:

A panel of plastics experts will judge the entries based on various criteria, which include:

• Life expectancy of product
• Sustainability and long-term demand and market acceptance for product (i.e. will it still sell in 5 years’ time?)
• Tonnage (potential tonnages) diverted from landfills and converted into a product
• Replacement of alternative materials
• Technical achievements in manufacturing excellence to overcome recycled material challenges
• Measures taken to ensure product consistency and customer satisfaction despite recycled material content
• Potential to create consumer awareness of plastics recycling, etc

“Although various weighting could be used to judge products objectively, we are overall looking for products that will help us focus attention on the quality of products and innovation that we have come to associate with the local plastics recycling industry,” Greig says.

A gold and silver winner will be announced in each of the these product categories, which will also acknowledge the recycler of the material, the manufacturer of the product as well as the brand owner in front of the auspicious audience during the gala awards ceremony on the 19th of September in Midrand.

The overall winning entry will walk away with the SAPRO Trophy for The Best Recycled Product 2013.

Competition rules:

• An entry fee of R600.00 must accompany each entry on its own entry form. This fee is non-VAT and includes one ticket to the prize-giving gala dinner.
• Each entry must be accompanied by a professional quality digital image of high resolution (1+ MB) on a clearly marked CD. It can also be mailed to annabe@absamail.co.za. Entrants must provide the organisers with a short motivation (max 500 words) on why this product should win.
• The actual, physical product must be delivered to the Plastics|SA Head Office, 18 Gazelle Ave, Corporate Park, Midrand, marked for the attention of Annabe Pretorius, along with the entry form, photographs, motivation and entry fee before or on the closing date. No entries will be accepted after 15:00 on Monday, 26 August 2013 and late entries will not be judged.
• Acknowledgement of all entries will be made by the 27th of August 2013. If no acknowledgement has been received by that date, please contact the organising committee on 083 654 8967.
• Should entrants require the return of their entries after the competition, arrangements must be made by the entrant to collect the entry from the organisers after the 19th of September 2013.
• Any company in the SADC region may enter, provided that the recycled material originated in South Africa.
• Products that have been entered in previous years and did not win may enter again.

How to enter:

Entry forms, rules and competition information can be obtained from the SAPRO website, the Plastics|SA website or could be requested from the organisers directly via the email address Annabe@absamail.co.za.
For further information about the competition, please contact Annabe Pretorius on 083 654-8967 or via email Annabe@absamail.co.za.

Photo:

Ecobarrow, manufactured and distributed by Lasher Tools received the PACSA Trophy for Best Recycled Products at last year’s competition.