Drought puts pressure on Cape Town recycling

Woolworths has sponsored the recycling of PET bottles in South Africa after a surge in bottled water purchases put pressure on Cape Town’s plastic recycling facilities.

These 500,000 plastic bottles equate to approximately 20 tons of plastics, now being processed and recycled back into Woolworths’ food packaging

Earlier this year, when Day Zero – the day the taps would run dry –  seemed a reality, residents of Cape Town stocked up on bottled water. With Day Zero pushed back to next year, all this bottled water has been consumed and the PET bottles discarded – creating above-normal plastic waste and resulting in Cape Town's plastics recycling facilities reaching capacity.

Rather than redirect this plastic waste to landfills, South African retail chain Woolworths sponsored the transportation of 500,000 plastic bottles to Extrupet's Johannesburg recycling facility.

These 500,000 plastic bottles equate to approximately 20 tons of plastics, now being processed and recycled back into Woolworths’ food packaging.

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Gill Loubser

Gill Loubser

  • Africa correspondent

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