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Business Day Insights PACKAGING
Thursday 27 August 2026
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Industry moving towards a circular future Packaging sector needs a holistic approach to keep valuable resources out of landfills, writes Lynette Dicey The imperative to transition from a linear takemake-waste model to a resilient circular economy is starting to change the packaging industry. Once evaluated purely on cost, shelf appeal and barrier protection, modern packaging formats are now scrutinised for their entire life-cycle footprint, ease of mechanical recovery and integration into local recycling streams. Driving this shift is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation, which compels brand owners, converters and importers to account for the post-consumer fate of their products. As part of this transition are producer responsibility organisations (PROs), working alongside municipalities, waste reclaimers and reprocessors (recyclers) to build functional, scalable circular value chains. Achieving true circularity requires leveraging the unique material characteristics of different packaging substrates while overcoming localised end-of-life constraints. Metal packaging, for example, has an advantage in circular systems due to its infinite recyclability without quality loss, says Dr Kishan Singh, CEO of MetPac-SA, the PRO representing the local metal packaging industry. “Recycling aluminium requires up to 95% less energy than primary production, while steel recycling yields energy savings of up to 40% compared to virgin material extraction. In South Africa, aluminium beverage cans achieved an impressive 81% collection and recycling rate in 2025.” However, distinct market-driven challenges remain for other metal formats. Lower relative scrap values and limited local demand for postconsumer steel cans provide little incentive for waste pickers. MetPac-SA is engaging government departments to establish differentiated regulatory treatment for verified packaging scrap and expedite export approvals when local processing demand is lacking. In the plastics sector, mechanical recycling achieved a record 485,000 tonnes in 2025 (a 3% year-on-year increase), with recyclate consumption expanding 62% over the past decade. Yet expanding closed-loop, food-grade applications remains a complex technical hurdle. Anton Hanekom, executive director of Plastics SA, the umbrella body representing the plastics
industry, says: “At present, PET remains the primary polymer in South Africa that can be mechanically recycled back into materials suitable for direct foodcontact applications. PET recyclable waste harvested from landfill can be cleaned Dr Kishan Singh. sufficiently in established recycling and decontamination technologies to produce recycled material of a sufficiently high standard for use in food-contact applications such as bottles, jars and thermoformed sheet.” Polyolefins such as high-density polyethylene, polypropylene and low-density polyethylene are more challenging because they readily absorb odours and contaminants when landfilled. Hanekom says expanding food-grade postconsumer recyclate beyond PET requires strict provenance tracking and controlled collection mechanisms. “A bread bag could potentially return to a similar food-contact application if its provenance and handling were controlled throughout the collection process. Closed-loop collection systems offer one of the most practical opportunities, such as collecting HDPE milk bottles separately from commercial coffee shops.” Modern packaging trends are increasingly moving towards design-for-recycling principles, with brand owners gradually abandoning complex multimaterial laminates in favour of monomaterial constructions such as oriented polyethylene flexible pouches. However, transitioning to monomaterials introduces operational barriers. Specialised highperformance films are often imported, creating supply chain concentrations, while identifying monomaterial packaging within existing sorting streams remains difficult. “To a collector or sorter, a recyclable monomaterial flexible pack may look almost
identical to a conventional multimaterial laminate,” says Hanekom. “If the packaging cannot be readily identified within the collection system, it risks being rejected even though it was technically designed for recycling. Designing packaging to be recyclable is only one part of the solution; collection, identification and sorting infrastructure must also be capable of recognising it.” Recognising that lightweighting becomes counterproductive if it leads to product damage, transport losses or increased food waste, the industry’s focus has shifted to resource efficiency and right-sizing. PROs are pioneering national initiatives to treat reclaimers as essential service providers. MetPacSA, for instance, is supporting the digitisation of buy-back centres to enable transparent, direct service-fee payments to waste pickers, supplying personal protective equipment, delivering occupational safety training and deploying digital tracking tools to map material flows. Reclaimers act as the primary engines of recovery, feeding buy-back centres. Safety protocols are particularly important for specialised formats. A nationwide MetPac-SA study across seven provinces evaluated postconsumer aerosol can recovery at buy-back centres. While 94.7% of surveyed facility managers recognised the risks associated with residual pressurised gas, only 2.7% of personnel had received formal handling training, leading to hazardous manual puncturing practices. “Implementing standardised training, clear operating procedures and safer processing infrastructure is essential to establishing viable recovery pathways for small and complex metal formats such as aerosol cans, coffee pods and foil trays,” says Singh. Upstream, the single most critical intervention required to prevent landfilled waste is municipal separation-at-source. “The most urgent change is the widespread implementation of mandatory separation at source, supported by an appropriate collection and contracting model,” says Hanekom.
The industry’s focus has shifted to resource efficiency and right-sizing
“Households should not be expected to understand every polymer format. A simpler system is separating dry waste from wet waste, with dry recyclables going into one collection stream, and organic and contaminated materials into the Anton Hanekom. other.” Municipal collection operators, he adds, should be compensated based on service provision — such as households serviced — rather than the fluctuating resale value of collected materials, which currently incentivises harvesting only highvalue items. This will ensure that all recyclable waste is collected, including small items, for reprocessing. As EPR regulations mature, PROs are calling for synchronised government policy and aligned ecomodulated fee structures, which reward sustainable design with lower fees for easily recyclable formats. Criteria must be aligned across PROs to avoid conflicting market signals, while imported goods should face equivalent compliance standards to protect local converters. Expanding local testing infrastructure could also accelerate innovation. Converters currently send recycled content packaging samples to Europe for substance-migration testing; accredited local facilities would cut turnaround times and let manufacturers build compliance testing into research and development workflows. Ultimately, the sector’s long-term sustainability relies on buying locally manufactured products made with local recyclate. Supporting local manufacturing generates a powerful circular multiplier, sustaining domestic industrial capacity, creating predictable markets for recyclate and reducing reliance on virgin polymer imports. A holistic approach uniting design standards, government policy, municipal waste management infrastructure and collectors will enable South Africa to build a fully functioning circular economy that keeps valuable resources out of landfills and in productive use.
NAT IONA L
Thursday 27 August 2026
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Business Day More news on page 14
Matlala at pains to make clear he did not give Sibiya money ‘Cat’ says he told Mkhwanazi about payments made by others to deputy commissioner By SINESIPHO SCHRIEBER Legal Writer
Thoko Didiza
DA opposes EFF bid to oust speaker Didiza By TARA ROOS Political Correspondent
The DA will vote against the EFF’s motion of no confidence in National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza, despite having previously criticised her handling of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment proceedings. DA parliamentary leader George Michalakis said the party believed removing Didiza would be “premature” and would not be the right way to strengthen parliament. In a statement yesterday, Michalakis said he had met Didiza on August 11 and raised concerns about parliament’s leadership and institutional effectiveness. The two subsequently agreed on a number of areas for reform, including: ● Introducing a clear recruitment policy for the secretary to parliament and senior managers; ● Strengthening the joint standing committee on the financial management of parliament; ● Reviewing the Financial Management of Parliament Act; and ● Ensuring the parliamentary executive meets more regularly. Michalakis called for a broader, multiparty review of parliament’s functioning and the appointment of office-bearers 30 years after the adoption of the Constitution. “I trust we will continue to engage the speaker on these matters,” he said. “She has the support of the DA in this and I hope her own party will equally back her in making parliament more effective.” The EFF’s motion, tabled by party leader Julius Malema in June, centres largely on Didiza’s decision not to oppose Ramaphosa’s urgent high court application to interdict the parliamentary impeachment process. On current parliamentary numbers, the 10 parties that make up the government of national unity (GNU) collectively hold 287 of the National Assembly’s 400 seats. The GNU comprises the ANC (159), DA (87), IFP (17), Patriotic Alliance (nine), FF Plus (six), UDM (three), Rise Mzansi (two), Al Jama-ah (two), PAC (one) and GOOD (one). The non-GNU parties collectively hold 113 seats: the MK Party has 58, the EFF 39, ActionSA six, the ACDP three, ATM two, Bosa two, the National Coloured Congress two and UAT one. roost@businessday.co.za
Corruption accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala discussed payments made to deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya with KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the Madlanga commission heard yesterday. During cross-examination, Matlala testified that in his April 15 2025 meeting with Mkhwanazi he told the top cop about payments made to Sibiya by other people, not himself. Sibiya faces allegations of being bankrolled by Matlala, who was awarded a R228m tender with the South African Police Service. Matlala yesterday sought to make clear that in his deliberations with Mkhwanazi, he did not say he gave Sibiya money but other people did.
Clash The commission’s latest report recommended Sibiya be investigated for corruption allegations. Mkhwanazi and Sibiya have clashed publicly after Mkhwanazi alleged that the latter was linked to criminals. Matlala did not divulge more details about the payments to Sibiya, saying it formed part of his legal strategy because he believes his meeting with Mkhwanazi, arranged by former police minister Bheki Cele, led to his arrest on attempted murder charges in May 14 2025. He said he met with Mkhwanazi because he was looking for someone to speak to police HR head Lt-Gen Lineo Nkhuoa when his company,
Vusimusi Matlala testifies before the Madlanga commission of inquiry in Pretoria. He refused to give more details about the payments to Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya. Freddy Mavunda/Business Day
Medicare24, had non-performance issues. Matlala said he was scared police might penalise his company and needed someone to explain to Nkhuoa about the delays which led to complaints about non-performance. Sibiya has been listed as among top cops who visited the late taxi boss and alleged “Big Five” cartel leader Jothan Msibi. Matlala used to render protection services to Msibi and told the commission that former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Maj-Gen Lestja
Senona also used to visit Msibi. Senona told the commission he met Matlala at his wedding in Soshanguve, but Matlala said before the wedding he used to see Senona at a farm owned by Msibi. In a collapsed plea agreement with the state, Matlala provided information about police corruption when he was charged in the R228m tender scandal. Matlala’s testimony is continuing. schriebers@businessday.co.za
Concern over slow rollout of free data By STELLA MAPENZAUSWA Economics Editor
Communications & digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi has acknowledged the slow pace in ensuring South Africa’s mobile network operators make the digital content of public benefit organisations available data-free but is still confident about meeting a January 2027 deadline. According to the DG Murray Trust, only about 40 out of thousands of public benefit organisations that may be eligible have been onboarded under the zero-rating requirement attached to a multibillion-rand radio frequency spectrum auction conducted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) in 2022. In May 2024, Icasa published a notice for public benefit organisations, including government websites, to submit applications for assessment for their mobile content to be zerorated. It said the successful bidders awarded licences in the auction must allow data-free mobile access to the websites of qualifying nonprofit entities, including trusts or associations registered with the South African Revenue Service. The zero-rating obligation must be implemented within 36 months from January 15 2024, the date of the issuance of the licences. “We are aware of the slow movement around this. But also it’s important to recall that Icasa published the process to apply in May 2024. The deadline is January 2027, so there is still time,” Malatsi told Business Day. “Our expectation is for Icasa to ensure there is compliance with the achievement of this component, as it was a critical part of the spectrum allocation obligations for the
mobile network operators. Icasa has instruments at its disposal which it can use for noncompliance if there is noncompliance.” Icasa had not responded to questions from Business Day by the time of publication. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the DG Murray Trust advocated for mobile operators to zero-rate digital content from public-benefit organisations so that low-income households could access educational and health information without paying for data. After Icasa’s spectrum auction made zerorating public-benefit content a licence condition, DG Murray Trust became vocal about the gap between the obligation existing on paper and people actually receiving free access. In a recent statement it said that in a country with unequal access to the internet and high data costs, the zero-rating of digital content is a bridge across the digital divide that could connect people to information for education, social services, healthcare and job seeking. “Almost every home in South Africa has a mobile phone, but many in poor communities can’t afford the cost of data. This means the tools for stimulating socioeconomic change are out of reach for millions of people in a country where barriers to connectivity and access to information and resources are a systemic choke which reinforces inequality,” CEO David Harrison said. “When content that carries social value is zerorated, new mothers can access trusted information about breastfeeding and nutrition, preschool teachers can tap into support networks and receive training, and young people can be linked to work opportunities.”
According to the trust, some mobile network operators like Rain have moved to zero-rate at least two dozen public benefit organisations ahead of next January’s deadline. But across the major operators, only 15 organisations have been zerorated out of thousands that may be eligible. “We are deeply concerned that with the deadline just months away, we’ve had no meaningful communication from most mobile network operators, or from Icasa, about how zerorating will be implemented, regulated and enforced,” the trust’s innovation director, Busisiwe Kabane-Bailey, said. Though mobile data prices have decreased nearly 50% in the last few years due to regulatory and consumer pressure, many consumers still find them expensive and complain about the fact that operators place a time limit on when airtime and data packages can be consumed. In January, Icasa gazetted new regulations that will allow consumers to roll over their mobile data bundles from next year. Mobile operators have, however, raised concerns, and industry giants MTN and Vodacom have launched legal challenges. The DG Murray Trust said since even before the pandemic some operators zero-rated sites of their own accord, but implementation has been uneven — for instance, a site that is data-free on one network may not be on another, or may carry different speed and data limitations. The content itself is selected at each operator’s discretion, with no shared standard to ensure it delivers the greatest possible educational or health benefit. mapenzauswas@businessday.co.za
INSIGHTS: Pa c k a g i n g Enough paper to cover
Life cycle assessments: the new frontier of EPR compliance Five years into South Africa’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, the conversation is shifting from compliance to measurable environmental performance. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are at the centre of that shift. An LCA is a cradle-to-grave methodology that evaluates a product’s environmental impact from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use and end-of-life. For packaging producers, it replaces assumption with evidence, quantifying carbon emissions, water use, energy consumption and resource efficiency. Under Regulation 5(1)(k) of South Africa’s EPR regulations, packaging producers must conduct an LCA within five years of their scheme’s implementation. Crucially, Regulation 5(1)(l) specifies exactly what these assessments must address: minimising material use, designing for reuse, recycling or recovery and reducing the toxicity of post-consumer waste. “This isn’t a box-ticking exercise,” says Dumisani Khumalo (pictured), marketing and communications manager at Fibre Circle, the producer responsibility organisation for paper packaging. “A generic, off-the-shelf assessment won’t satisfy the regulation. It has to be a precise, product-specific diagnostic that proves a business
is reducing material mass, designing for circularity and addressing toxicity in the waste stream.” Because an LCA is a complex undertaking that can take months, Khumalo cautions against leaving it until close to the deadline. “Waiting until the eve of compliance is a real risk. This work needs lead time.” Fibre Circle is supporting members through the process, offering technical guidance, promoting consistent methodologies and improving access to reliable data, alongside initiatives like the South African Repulpability and Recyclability Standard. “An LCA shouldn’t be seen only as a compliance requirement,” says Khumalo. “It’s a strategic tool that helps identify material, cost and environmental savings and prepares businesses for what’s next, including eco-modulated EPR fees.” Five years into South Africa’s EPR journey, LCAs are becoming less a regulatory hurdle and more a driver of innovation and long-term sustainability across the packaging sector.
223 FIFA football Ɠelds In 2025, Fibre Circle members diverted 1 061 914 tonnes of Ŋ blocks and stacked two high.
Lead the change in responsible paper manufacturing. Become a registered member with Fibre Circle today.
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