South Africa emphasises can-do recycling attitude

South Africa – ‘Aluminium and steel packaging are the world’€™s most recycled packaging and are literally worth their weight in gold,’ says Delanie Bezuidenhout, ceo of the newly founded producer responsibility organisation MetPac in South Africa.

Steel cans have been collected in South Africa for more than 25 years now. During this time, The region’s post-consumer can recovery rate surged from 18% to around 72%.

‘In many regards, it can be said that we have lead the way for responsible recovery and recycling of packaging in our country,’ Bezuidenhout says of the industry. ‘Buy-back centres continue to pay well for cans that are collected, thereby providing a much needed income for schools and informal collectors,’ she adds.

Bezuidenhout cites the known fact that recycling one beverage can saves the amount of energy needed to burn a 100w bulb for 4 hours.

Enter MetPac, which is meant to ensure that every can entering the market is collected and recycled and that everybody in the value chain works together – from the informal collectors pushing their trolleys, through to the scrap dealers.