Collection companies to receive R4.6m funding from POLYCO

Staff at Anti-Waste in Polokwane

As part of POLYCO's mandate to promote and grow the collection and recycling of post-consumer PP, HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE packaging materials, as is required in terms of the packaging industry obligations to the South African government under extended producer responsibility, the company issued a call for proposals in April 2015 to collectors who were interested in partnering with them.

"We received a total of 38 applicants from all over South Africa, of which 16 were short-listed and finally 12 successful applicants were approved by the POLYCO board," says Mandy Naudé, CEO of POLYCO. The result is that POLYCO will invest R3.7m as interest-free loans and R850,000 as grants into 12 post-consumer polyolefin collection companies.

Successful applicants

The successful applicants are A2 Recycling in Kagiso; Anti-Waste in Polokwane; Aspigon 218cc in Lenasia; Innovative Mouldings in Port Elizabeth; Mary Recycling Works in Meadowlands; Mavesa Scrap Metals in Germiston; Neo Recycling in Thabazimbi; Nondaba Recycling in Secunda; Polymer Waste Management Centre in Longdale, Gauteng; Pick Up Waste Recycling in Potchefstroom; Remade in Germiston; and Trashback Pty Ltd in Sandton.

"Providing funding support to these companies and helping them to optimise their supply chains, allows us to unlock approximately 27,500 tons of new polyolefin plastics for recycling over the next three years - putting us ahead of our five year plan," Naudé says.

The collection and sorting sector faces numerous constraints which prevent them from growing their volumes or collecting more materials. The majority of the collectors who had applied to POLYCO for funding in this cycle, required new machinery and equipment that would allow them to make maximum use of their available space and move materials more effectively through the process, whilst minimising their logistic costs.

Machines needed

"Almost all of the collectors needed bailers at their premises in order to compact the bulky polyolefin materials that were brought in, such as milk bottles, yoghurt tubs, margarine containers and ice cream tubs. Granulators to shred the materials into smaller pieces were also high on the collectors' wish lists, as both these machines allow them to save on warehousing and logistical costs.

"By helping them find solutions to the bottle-necks in their operations, they will now be able to buy and process more materials from the informal collectors and have a direct, positive impact on the amount of plastic waste that is sent to landfill," she explains.