Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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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 to<strong>the</strong> boom in commodity prices which may have contributed to <strong>the</strong> establishment ofPETCO, dedicated to PET recycling, in 2004. Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> claims should betreated with caution. While registered as not-for-profit organisations, all <strong>the</strong> mainrecycling agents were established and are funded by <strong>the</strong> relevant industries and servea PR function. Journalist Don Boroughs shows that <strong>the</strong> 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 <strong>the</strong> plastics production floor – and industrial packaging.Consumer waste is ra<strong>the</strong>r less easy to recycle but is never<strong>the</strong>less <strong>the</strong> focus of industryPR aimed to justify plastic in environmental terms. The underlying strategy, however,continues <strong>the</strong> core business of expanding <strong>the</strong> market.Understanding this requires a step back in time to see how, as Hea<strong>the</strong>r Rogers puts it,“today’s polymer-laden reality is not simply <strong>the</strong> inevitable outcome of some naturalprocess; it is <strong>the</strong> 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 <strong>the</strong> national figure for all cans collected from <strong>the</strong> organisation’sinception. The IWMP consultants did not question this figure, supposed to be <strong>the</strong> annual figure for eThekwini.They noted, however, that Collect-a-Can’s claims for paper recycling were not credible.- 114 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>