CEO Justin Bott believes in waste not, want not

Q: What is the one change you have made in your personal life to minimise waste?
A: Fifteen years ago, my family and I made a conscious decision to move to an eco-estate where source separation is a non-negotiable part of daily life. This aligns strongly with our personal commitment to environmental responsibility. We also make a deliberate effort when shopping to avoid multi-layer and non-recyclable packaging, opting instead for products that can easily be recycled or reused. These small, consistent choices reinforce our broader goal of contributing to a circular economy both at home and at work.

Q: How does Interwaste work with big food companies to help them design packaging that is easy to recycle or compost, especially in areas where formal waste collection might be a challenge?
A: The key is to simplify packaging at the design stage. Packaging that relies on multi-layer or composite materials often becomes difficult, or in some cases impossible, to recycle, particularly in regions where recycling infrastructure is limited or developing. By selecting single-material or easily separable materials, businesses significantly increase the likelihood that packaging will be recovered and reprocessed rather than landfilled.

Equally important is clear consumer guidance. Packaging that includes simple, easy-to-follow recycling instructions helps ensure that more material actually enters the recycling stream, especially where formal collection systems are fragmented or rely on informal sector recovery.

In many parts of South Africa, informal waste collectors play an essential role in recovering recyclable materials. When packaging is designed with both environmental impact and recovery value in mind, it creates practical incentives for broader participation across the value chain, improving overall recycling rates and contributing towards zero-waste objectives.

Q: Given the massive amount of food packaging waste, and South Africa’s 2030 zero-waste goal, what’s the single biggest policy change or new regulation needed from government right now that would most effectively force all businesses to reduce packaging waste at its source, and not just rely on waste managers like Interwaste to deal with it later?
A: If we are to consider the biggest policy or regulation here, understanding Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) becomes crucial. Over the past three decades, EPR implementation in Europe has proven to be a game-changer and in many instances, a model of success in sustainable waste management.

EPR and associated legislation has compelled manufacturers to take responsibility for their products, thereby altering their role in the waste management sector from passive by-standers to active contributors. In fact, this holistic and collaborative approach of EPR allows manufacturers, government entities and communities to contribute to more sustainable waste practices and solutions, reducing the environmental impact of products and serves as a blueprint for other regions and countries to follow. Subsequently over the last few years, EPR schemes have been spreading in emerging economies in Asia, South America, and Africa and the success in Europe offers invaluable insights which can be tailored for application in diverse regions, including South Africa.

As we know, South Africa has a relatively new waste legislative framework consisting of various regulations, Acts and strategies focused on guiding and shifting the country to implement and operate more sustainable waste management practices and solutions.

One of the most prominent Acts is the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008 and the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) 2020. In line with the intention to divert waste from landfill and transition to a circular economy, South Africa has had a voluntary EPR scheme in place since the early 2000s, with material organisations for different material types e.g. the PET Recycling Company (PETCO) was established in 2004 focused on the collection and recycling of PET beverage bottles. Over time, other organisations were formed such as Polyolefin Responsibility Organisation (Polyco) NPC and Polystyrene Association (PSA).

The final EPR regulations for South Africa were published by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) on 5 May 2021. Key pillars of the framework are waste minimisation, the promotion of recycling and transparent reporting. These pillars ultimately support environmental preservation through decreasing landfill waste and conserving natural resources through re-designing for environmental sustainability and preserving the value of materials to keep them in the economy and stimulate economic growth and innovation through new business opportunities, job creation and product designs.

However, formulating an implementation model for EPR in South Africa requires a context specific strategy, which considers factors such as informal waste pickers, diverse recycling infrastructure and socio-economic conditions into account. Therefore, adaptive and tailored solutions, which strike a balance between economic viability and environmental sustainability, are going to be key to the success of EPR in South Africa