This article has been supplied.Recent calls to ban plastic carrier bags or replace them with paper overlook an important reality: South Africa is less than five months away from a significant circular-economy milestone that will require compliant plastic carrier and flat bags to contain 100% post-consumer recyclate from 1 January 2027.
According to Anton Hanekom, Executive Director of Plastics SA, abandoning plastic carrier bags now would undermine years of investment in recycling and market development at precisely the point when South Africa is positioned to close the loop.
“The 2027 deadline should be recognised as an environmental opportunity, not a reason to abandon plastic carrier bags. Our recycling industry is geared and prepared for this transition. Moving to 100% post-consumer recycled content creates a significant and sustainable end-market for locally recovered plastic. This is exactly what a sustainable, functioning circular economy needs,” Hanekom says.
Plastics SA also questions claims made in recent media reports about the scale of plastic carrier bag consumption in South Africa and suggestions that the regulations introduced more than two decades ago have failed. Hanekom says such arguments overlook an important consequence of those regulations: the South African carrier bag has evolved from a lightweight, disposable product into a stronger, regulated bag specifically designed to encourage reuse and recycling. Since the inception of the bag levy, production of carrier bags have reduced substantially to around 2,184 billion bags sold per annum. This generates an estimated R900 million in revenue for the fiscus each year.
