Local recycling at stake, warns South Africa’s Petco

The global landscape for packaging and plastics is shifting faster than at any point in the past two decades, moving from an extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy aspiration to a binding economic reality, according to Telly Chauke, ceo of South Africa’s producer responsibility organisation Petco.

Chauke says that 2026 will be a year of reckoning and test of resilience for the local sector, warning that ‘global signals are creating a volatile environment that threatens the sustainability of local recycling’.

Speaking on the status of EPR globally, Chauke says that what was once a ‘producer pays’ ideal has transformed into a strategic instrument for global competitive positioning. ‘While South Africa is progressing steadily, the domestic sector must now navigate a complex web of international regulatory shifts and volatile macro-economic headwinds.’

Global impact

Chauke outlines significant developments in key markets that are expected to spill over into African and Middle Eastern markets. Central to this is Europe’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation which will become into force on 12 August.

‘This will impact how brands design packs everywhere they sell, not just inside the EU,’ Chauke says, adding that the regulation will hard-wire strict recyclability performance grades, minimum recycled content and harmonised labelling.

According to the ceo, the expansion of EPR in seven US States and the UAE’s pioneering regional pilot are further signals that producer-financed collection and recycling are now the global regulatory standard.

‘Historic lows‘

Despite some momentum in recycling infrastructure development in South Africa, including the 2025 launch of Extrupet’s Western Cape bottle-to-bottle plant, Chauke warns that the local industry remains under strain. Recycled PET (rPET) economics faced a difficult year in 2025, she says, with bale prices hitting historic lows due to oversupply and competition from cheaper virgin PET, driven largely by China’s massive capacity expansion.

‘China’s strong virgin PET capacity growth in recent years and disciplined industrial policy continue to depress virgin prices, challenging rPET economics globally.’

To counter these pressures, Chauke stresses the need for ‘visible compliance enforcement’ against free-riding producers under the Section 18 regulations of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, which govern EPR.

‘The strategic answer to these constraints is to see more material getting to plants and stronger, enforced compliance to keep the playing field fair for members who pay,’ she argues.

Build resilience, support recyclers  

According to Chauke, the goal for 2026 is resilience. ‘If we succeed in building resilience through compliant members, well-supplied recyclers and empowered waste pickers, we will position South Africa as a circular-economy leader in the Global South.’

Petco will focus on strengthening the collections base through logistics grants and buy-back centre upgrades to enhance the quality and volumes flowing to domestic recyclers. The organisation also calls for economic support for recyclers, such as electricity stability relief and green tax incentives, to provide a ‘softer landing’ when prices are low.