The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) will be liaising with the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) and the South African Bureau of Standards to ensure that manufacturers of plastic carrier bags comply with regulatory requirements and standards, it says.

This follows an exposé by the Sunday Times at the weekend that South Africa’s branded plastic supermarket carrier bags are no longer recyclable, owing to the addition of a calcium carbonate filler.

In 2003, South Africa introduced plastic bag regulations to address the challenge of plastic bag litter. The regulations essentially made the provision of thicker, more durable plastic bags compulsory.

A compulsory specification was subsequently developed that prescribed that only plastic carrier bags and flat bags of the minimum thickness of 24 microns could be manufactured or imported into the country, at a levy of 3c – now 6c – a plastic bag. In terms of the regulations, the plastic bags were intended to be recyclable, thereby making them more environment-friendly. The new thickness also made them more reusable.

Since the inception of the levy in 2004, the National Treasury has been collecting the plastic bag levy with the money collected going into the National Revenue Fund.

The collected levy is ring-fenced, however, it can only be allocated to recycling programmes by the DEA following submission to Treasury of an approved and clear business plan on the implementation of any such programmes.

The National Treasury does allocate a portion of it to the DEA for regulation of the thickness of plastic bags.

The money is used to support the implementation of the compulsory specification for plastic bags through the NRCS. As part of its mandate, the NRCS conducts compliance and enforcement of the specifications.

A contribution of R22.4-million will be allocated to the NRCS for research on plastic bags over the next three financial years.

The funds are also used to support recycling initiatives through the establishment of the necessary infrastructure for recycling in the country. The DEA further said it was implementing initiatives aimed at improving regulation of the development and implementation of industry waste management plans in an effort to fast-track effective implementation of the DEA's National Waste Management Strategy, which promotes waste reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery of waste in South Africa, and which falls under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act.

“The waste recycling economy will not only eliminate threats to the environment, but also positively contribute to the growth and development of South Africa’s economy,” the department stated.

The DEA has been allocated a budget of R155-million towards regulation of the thickness of plastic bags and to support recycling initiatives, over the present medium-term period of three financial years. The funds are administered through the DEA's Waste Bureau.