EPR amendments support recycling, not reuse, says advocacy organisation
Environmental advocacy organisation Break Free From Plastic says the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Amendments prioritise recycling schemes that have a poor record of dealing with plastic pollution instead of supporting systems to replace packaging including reuse and refill models.
“Implementing refillable and deposit systems systematically reduces the demand for products in packaging and is an effective way to stop plastic pollution at the source,” Break Free From Plastic African regional coordinator Niven Reddy says.
“We can see recycling as a false solution. The adopted amendments and those recently announced dealing with plastic bags make it conducive for the plastic and petrochemical industry to continue polluting the environment under the guise of supporting recycling,” Greenpeace Africa pan-African plastic project lead Angelo Louw notes.
“Our governments are supporting corporations’ greenwashing and attempts to monetise environmental conservation.
“Effective solutions, such as reuse and refill models, were only mentioned twice in the final amendments. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment needs to understand that its mandate is to protect the environment and keep us healthy for generations to come. They must not sell us short to greedy corporations that take more than they give,” Louw says.
“Incentivising people to bring their own containers, or return them once they have consumed the liquid contained in the bottles, is more effective, as the consumer is buying the product, not the packaging,” adds Reddy.
Greenpeace Africa and Break Free From Plastic led 4 000 individual submissions from the public following the public consultation process for the amendments.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation