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PETCO – Plastic Recycling Nationwide

March 17, 2010 - Sonia
Featured image for PETCO – Plastic Recycling Nationwide

FROM 9,840 TONS TO 29,000 IN JUST 5 YEARS! Above your washing machine, under your kitchen sink or in your fridge, plastic bottles are all around us. South Africans buy billions of plastic bottles every year, and nearly all of them will end up in a landfill site. So, please think before you throw away that empty water bottle

:: TAKE OUR RECYCLING SURVEY ::

The most common container in the soft drink market today in South Africa is the plastic bottle, or more specifically, the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle. Discarded PET bottles are collected, baled and delivered to the PET Recycling Plant, where they are colour sorted, washed, granulated, re-washed, extruded and cut into recycled PET (rPET) pellets. rPET pellets are then used all over the world to manufacture many new products :

  • fibre for polyester carpet
  • fabric for T-shirts, long underwear, athletic shoes, luggage, upholstery and sweaters
  • fibrefill for sleeping bags and winter coats
  • industrial strapping, sheet and film
  • automotive parts, such as luggage racks, headliners, fuse boxes, bumpers, grilles and door panels
  • geotextiles (road stabilisation)
  • ceiling insulation
  • composite timber products
  • new PET containers for both food and non-food products

WHAT CAN I DO?

  • Download the Drop off area guide nationwide
  • Click here to become a PETCO Member (for companies, schools, waste companies, NGO’s etc)

“Its not just a beverage bottle alongside your sandwich on your lunch break.
Its a new pullover fleece or carpeting for your car.
Now that is the epitome of product stewardship”

END-USE-PRODUCTS

2 Comments

  1. Lee
    July 2, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    Hi there,
    Do you perhaps know where one can take their plastic shopping bags to be recycled?
    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Thanks
    Lee

  2. sonia
    July 5, 2010 at 5:14 pm

    Hi Lee-Ann, you can recycle your bags at Cnr Ballyclare and William Nicol Drive, Bryanston. But we suggest saving yourself the hassle, your petrol and costs by never buying a plastic bag again. Once I’ve unloaded my shopping in the house I IMMEDIATELY take my canvas bags back to my car and leave them in the boot so I always have them with me when I’m shopping. Last week I forgot and literally carried everything loose to my boot, explaining to other customers as I went why I say no to plastic :) . So if you haven’t already – buy your canvas bag!!