Nemwa amendments aimed at increasing recovery of products to be recycled

Waste management and plastic recycling are a significant challenges in South Africa and recent amendments to Section 18 of the National Environmental Management and Waste Act (Nemwa) regulations call for producer responsibility organisations (PROs) to cooperate with municipalities to increase the recovery and recycling of identified products. The current practice is that municipalities collect waste and landfill it, but Plastics South Africa (SA) executive director Anton Hanekom says that, considering that about 34% of the country does not have waste management services whatsoever, the responsibility to recycle and reduce waste falls onto the shoulders of municipalities.