Local product responsibility organisation the Southern African Vinyls Association (Sava), which represents the local polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry, announced on Thursday that it had appointed Polystyrene Association of South Africa CEO Adri Spangenberg as its new CEO.

Spangenberg was appointed by the Sava board in June, and has been working to prepare the submissions for the Industry Waste Management Plan and managing the day-to-day administration of the association.

“Adri is no stranger to heading up nonprofit associations and fighting the cause for the recycling of challenging plastics,” the association said in a statement.

According to Spangenberg, there is a lot of synergy between Sava and the Polystyrene Association of South Africa.

PVC and polystyrene are misunderstood plastics and face similar threats. End-markets for both of these polymers need to be developed to encourage increased collection and recycling, she said.

“However, the [associations] share many of the same members who are involved in the supply of raw material components or the production of packaging materials. These members need to be represented at the same meetings with government and other stakeholders, and being involved with both organisations affords me a bird’s eye view on the industry, as well as a stronger platform to represent the interests of these industries. It also has the added benefit of administrative savings as the offices have been consolidated.”

Spangenberg has also been welcomed by the Global Vinyl Council that offered assistance and support with driving Sava’s Product Stewardship Commitment and other PVC-related matters.

“It is wonderful to have such a network of experts at your disposal to call upon for guidance and to learn from their international best practices. I look forward to the next chapter and welcome the input of current and new members who are interested in signing up and supporting the work we are doing to prove our commitment to Extended Producer Responsibility,” she says.