Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 4: The toxic cradle of productionTable 10: Industry recyclingMaterial Industry agent Tonnes/yearProportionrecycledCans Collect-a-Can 50,000 67%Paper Manufacturer and recycler associations 965,000 55%Glass Glass Recycling Co - 25%Plastics Plastics Federation and PETCO - 33%Source: The Packaging Council of South AfricaWith no government requirement for recycled content, recycling has long been captiveto a volatile market. Rates have improved in recent years, primarily in response tothe boom in commodity prices which may have contributed to the establishment ofPETCO, dedicated to PET recycling, in 2004. Nevertheless, the claims should betreated with caution. While registered as not-for-profit organisations, all the mainrecycling agents were established and are funded by the relevant industries and servea PR function. Journalist Don Boroughs shows that the figures given by Collect-a-Can, funded mainly by Mittal and Nampak, are particularly suspect and appear to bethumb sucks. 81The plastics industry claims to recycle 33% of plastic packaging, implying that 66% isdestined for dumping. The bulk of what is recycled would appear to be factory waste –off-cuts and trimmings from the plastics production floor – and industrial packaging.Consumer waste is rather less easy to recycle but is nevertheless the focus of industryPR aimed to justify plastic in environmental terms. The underlying strategy, however,continues the core business of expanding the market.Understanding this requires a step back in time to see how, as Heather Rogers puts it,“today’s polymer-laden reality is not simply the inevitable outcome of some naturalprocess; it is the direct result of an industry that was nurtured by massive publicspending, unrelenting lobbying, and sophisticated public relations” [2005b].81 Don Boroughs, A case of collect-a-con? Mail and Guardian, February 13, 2008. In its response to eThekwini’s2004 IWMP, Collect-a-Can simply gave the national figure for all cans collected from the organisation’sinception. The IWMP consultants did not question this figure, supposed to be the annual figure for eThekwini.They noted, however, that Collect-a-Can’s claims for paper recycling were not credible.- 114 - groundWork - Wasting the Nation