CNN explores South Africa’s plastic industry
CNN International explored South Africa’s plastic industry and spoke to local companies who are initiating ways to become more eco-friendly.
ON the weekend’s episode of Marketplace Africa, CNN International explored South Africa’s plastic industry and spoke to local companies who are initiating ways to become more eco-friendly.
Shipping containers filled with 49 tons of nurdles (microplastics that are used to make plastic products) ended up in the ocean after they were blown off a ship in high winds at the port of Durban, South Africa, in October 2017. Since then, the nurdles have been washing up on the South African coastline and teams of volunteers are attempting a clean up that could take years.
Sobantu Tilayi, acting CEO of South African Maritime Safety Authority, explained on the programme that the slow clean up process will exacerbate the problem for the ocean and coast wildlife.
“We’ve only collected about 11 tons and we know that we may never collect everything that got spilled. The difficulty is that we should concede that what we did not collect has ended up being ingested by some innocent creature in the ocean.”
The University of KwaZulu-Natal is running tests and documenting the impact of plastic on marine life. The programme met Deborah Robertson-Anderson, a research supervisor of the Marine Biology, Aquaculture, Conservation and Education (MACE) Lab at the university, who explained how far-reaching the effects of plastic can be: “It’s very depressing because every single species, every single animal that we’ve worked on not only do we find microplastics in the wild. We’re finding them moving from the gut into the tissue.”
The plastics industry is big in South Africa, it employs more than 60 000 people and is estimated to be worth six billion dollars. According to the 2010 Jambeck report which studied marine waste, South Africa is ranked as the 11th highest contributor of plastics in the ocean, with 250 000 metric tons of plastic waste leaking into the ocean each year.
ALSO READ: Durban beaches get nurdle all-clear
This reality has created an awareness among South Africans to ditch single use plastics. The programme met a few leaders of the new eco-revolution that is now underway. Natasha Sideris, founder of Tashas, is aiming to have her 16 restaurants plastic-free as soon as possible. However, she explained on the programme that going green doesn’t come cheap; despite replacing cups and straws for biodegradable alternatives, it’s costing her 20 per cent more than plastic packaging.
Christopher Cox, marketing manager of Enviromall is benefitting from the rise in demand for biodegradable packaging. He attributes the high prices to having to import his prodcuct from China but explains that the company is growing.
“We’ve got two warehouses, we’ve got an operation in Joburg and Cape Town. The biodegradable industry is still very small in the packaging industry but we’re going in the right direction.”
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