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Recycling Your Plastics Does More Than Saving The Environment

Your recycling efforts at home make a bigger difference than you probably realise. In South Africa the volume of recycled plastic material grows annually, with 334 727 tons recycled into raw material last year*.

“The immediate effect on the environment is that pollution is reduced, but in South Africa there is also the critically positive result of job creation,” says Rory Murray, Marketing Director at Tuffy Brands. “We have to start thinking differently about plastic, because re-using it creates a whole value chain.”

Last year the recycling of plastics sustained 5 837 formal jobs in recycling factories, but it is estimated that through the supply chain 52 300 workers received an income because of it*. This includes self-employed waste pickers and employees of smaller entrepreneurial waste collectors.

“In South Africa we currently have an input recycling rate of 43.7 % for all plastics*, which shows that the largest percentage of plastics are not recycled,” says Murray. “There is definitely scope for improvement and the more consumers recycle, the more value will be added on an economic and environmental level.”

Read the full article below posted on iafrica.com

https://www.iafrica.com/recycling-your-plastics-does-more-than-saving-the-environment/