Today we don our green hat to honour companies who minimise environmental impact within their supply chains and successfully comply with local and international regulations and green practices throughout their supply chain. During a gala event four such companies were awarded Enviro Awards by Logistics News at this year’s Logistics Achiever Awards. PETCO was one of the … [Read more...]
Producers to take responsibility for waste created
Who is responsible for packaging materials lying around in the environment? How can we best curb this dilemma, which seems to be growing by the day? One solution is the principle of EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines extended producer responsibility (EPR ) as ‘an environmental policy approach in … [Read more...]
SA coastline gets thousands of loving hands-on cleaners
SA joined the biggest volunteer effort for ocean health in 1996. This year's International Coastal Clean-Up Day was the best ever, said coordinators, sponsors and volunteers who participated in this important work this month. This annual event was initiated by the Ocean Conservancy in 1986 and has grown with more than 100 countries participating in cleaning up their coastal … [Read more...]
99% of all seabirds will have ingested plastic by 2050
Most seabirds have already eaten plastic in the oceans, and scientists project that 99 percent will have done so by 2050. Plastics are pervasive in the world's waters due to pollution, and birds - including albatrosses, penguins and gulls - can mistake brightly colored bottle tops or other fragments for food. Birds can become sick and die if they ingest too much … [Read more...]
Plastic is killing the planet - here’s how we can turn the tide
“EVERY single piece of plastic that has ever been created since the 19th century is still SOMEWHERE on our planet. So if it never goes away, where does it go?” — this is the startling idea behind the eye-opening documentary, Plastic Paradise. Plastic is difficult to escape. Simply walk through your local supermarket and take in the sheer number of products housed in plastic. … [Read more...]
Turning rubbish collectors into micro-entrepreneurs
In South Africa, 98 million tonnes of waste is still sent to landfill each year. Recycling initiatives remain limited and progress is slow. If increased, recycling enterprise could create many jobs for the 25% of the population that remain unemployed. KZN businesswoman and founder of Supa Mama, Thina Maziya, is tackling both of these problems one refuse bag at a time. Here’s … [Read more...]
War on waste makes local business more sustainable
Partnerships are the key to success in the waste management and recycling industry, is the conclusion that was arrived at during a workshop in the Eastern Cape. Early in November PETCO hosted a workshop with some of its partners in the Eastern Cape. The aim of the event was to share information around waste management and recycling in the province, outline current plastics … [Read more...]
Ocean array could clean Pacific garbage patch
Last year we reported on teenage inventor Boyan Slat’s plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. His proposal for an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms received a lot of criticism – but now, just over a year later, Boyan is back with the results of a year-long investigation that … [Read more...]
Plastics belong in the cycle, not the river
Sustaining your energy in the environmental field is all about counting small blessings. And sometimes they aren’t so small either. We reported last year about the brave chap, 33-year-old Capetonian, Ray Chaplin who became the first person to riverboard the entire 2,400km length of the Orange River, from source to sea in order to raise awareness of our country’s water quality … [Read more...]
Pipes to be heavy metal free by 2015
The SA Bureau of Standards have announced that all PVC pipes manufactured in SA must be free of heavy metals by 2015. It's a great step forward in protecting our environment and workers from heavy metal contamination. General Manager at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Certification, Gauteng, Sibongile Dhlamini, confirmed earlier that the technical … [Read more...]
New labelling helps make recycling easier for customers
In South Africa, there are so many recycling labels which are confusing for customers, designers and developers. That’s why Woolworths has designed and adopted new labelling on packaging to tell you exactly what materials each of their packs contain and how you can dispose of them. The new labelling started appearing on food packaging this month. The intention is for the … [Read more...]
Exciting speakers announced for international recycling colloquium
PETCO, the PET Recycling Company (Pty) Ltd, has just released an exciting line-up of speakers and topics for its forthcoming colloquium with the European Plastics Recycling Organisation (EPRO) that will be taking place in Cape Town on Thursday, 21 November 2013. This exciting event not only sees global collaboration, but local partnerships with the National Research Foundation, … [Read more...]
Huge turnout for International Coastal Cleanup Day
South Africans once again showed their commitment to the environment this past weekend by participating in the 28th International Coastal Clean-up that took place at beaches around the country this past Saturday (21 September 2013). Clean-ups took place on most of South Africa’s beaches where gloves, refuse bags and data sheets were handed out to volunteers upon their … [Read more...]
