Paul Jordaan has been appointed Project Manager for both the Polystyrene Association of South Africa and the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA), with specific focus on providing assistance with their submissions for an Industry Waste Management Plan (IWMP), following the Department of Environmental Affair’s Section 28 call made to the paper & packaging industry, electrical & electronic industry and lighting industry.

Paul is a 26-year old Capetonian who matriculated at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, before obtaining his BSc Agric Conservation Ecology degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 2015, for which he received cum laude distinction and the Daniel Booysen Award for his final year thesis. He went on to complete his Master’s degrees at the same institution, specialising in Sustainable Agriculture with his thesis entitled, "Evaluating the sustainable potential of biogas generation in South Africa".

Commenting on his new focus on the local waste management and industry recycling, Paul says he has been enjoying learning about the industry and getting to grips with some of the issues it faces. "It is a very exciting time to get involved with the plastics industry in particular, as there are many exciting opportunities and interesting developments that can be unlocked through the development of new end markets for recycled materials, contributing towards a more sustainable approach” he says.

“I believe that we are standing on the cusp of an era where great changes and radical movement towards a more sustainable way of life will be thrust upon us. For this reason, a conscious effort for improved environmental management and sustainability is of great importance,” Paul adds.

He is a passionate outdoorsman who loves working with people. Paul describes himself as an adventurous, passionate, driven, and patient person and looks forward to working with all the role players in the local plastics and recycling industries. 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call him on (060) 972-6170

Marilyn Monroe once said: “Give a girl the right pair of shoes and she can conquer the world”. Thanks to a ground-breaking hospital recycling project which was initiated by the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA) in 2010, non-hazardous intravenous infusion (IV) drip bags and tubing made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are now being recycled into soles for school shoes.

“We started researching the concept of “practicing green health” in 2010, but our proposals and calls to recycle waste from hospitals were met with lukewarm enthusiasm at the time. Fortunately, a lot of research on this topic has taken place locally and internationally since then, with numerous examples and case studies proving that it is indeed possible and economically viable for hospitals to adopt this approach,” says Delanie Bezuidenhout, CEO of the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA).

Today, recycling non-hazardous medical products is being described as being a pioneering and collaborative move for the healthcare industry. Globally, PVC recycling programmes are changing the way hospitals think about reducing both their costs and their impact on the environment.

“More than 40% of all plastic-based disposable medical devices used in hospitals are made from high quality PVC which are highly recyclable. By collecting and reprocessing products such as IV bags, oxygen masks and tubing, a minimum of 2 500 tonnes of locally recyclable material is diverted from our country’s landfills,” Delanie says.

South Africa currently has 33 PVC recyclers who recycle rigid and flexible PVC. Between them, they recycled more than 17 000 tonnes of PVC in 2016 into various items, such as soles for school shoes, gumboots and traffic cones.

One of the first fruits of SAVA’s medical waste recycling drive was seen in Johannesburg recently, when roughly 1 000 school shoes were handed over to learners of the Masakhane Tswelopele Primary School in Zandspruit by Executive Mayor, Councillor Herman Mashaba and the City of Johannesburg. This donation was made possible thanks to Adcock Ingram Critical Care, Netcare and the City of Johannesburg, who have begun dealing with their uncontaminated healthcare waste in a way that creates functional new products, including school shoes for disadvantaged children.

“Thanks to funding we received from Adcock Ingram Critical Care, SAVA was able to put research into practice. We spent several hours providing unit managers, head of departments, cleaning staff, nursing staff and waste management staff with training into separating and recycling non-hazardous PVC waste with PowerPoint presentations, practical demonstrations, video’s as well as in-depth and question and answer sessions.

Conveniently located blue coloured bins were set up specifically for the purpose of segregating uncontaminated used PVC drip bags and the PVC waste material was collected by recyclers who then sold it to a company that uses this high grade and quality PVC plastic to make soles for shoes.

“We are very excited to see that the success of PVC recycling programmes are changing the way hospitals think about reducing both their costs and their impact on the environment. South Africa is following the lead of countries like Australia by taking a tough approach on plastics in the belief that this could create jobs in recycling, engineering and research.

The support we are now receiving from the medical fraternity makes it clear that hospitals and clinics are rethinking the way in which they deal with healthcare waste. They are starting to realise that recycling their non-hazardous PVC waste not only has a positive impact on curbing the costs of waste management, but it also increases their own awareness about conducting their day-to-day business in a way that is environmentally responsible and sustainable,” Delanie concludes.

For more information, visit www.savinyls.co.zaENDS  

Recycling used billboards made from end of life PVC banners not only help keep thousands of homeless city dwellers warm and dry, but has now also received the recognition it deserves from South Africa’s plastic recycling fraternity by walking away with a Gold Award in the category “Novel and Artistic Products” during the South African Plastic Recyclers Organisation (SAPRO) Best Recycled Product of the Year Awards held in Johannesburg recently. 

“Street Sleeper is a Cape Town based initiative that uses innovation to tackle the social and environmental challenges facing the homeless community. We upcycle PVC advertising billboards destined for landfill into survival sleeping bags,” explains Oliver Bain, the founder of Street Sleeper. 

Since 2014, Oliver and his team has made more than 8 000 sleeping bags (1 500 last year alone). Each bag uses 4sqm of end of life PVC banners thereby upcycling more than 32 000sqm (or 13 tons) of PVC billboards. Bags are distributed through feeding centres, like-minded businesses and volunteers who wish to actively engage with their homeless neighbours.

SAPRO Chairman, Rudi Johannes, highlighted that the empathetic nature of the product and the volumes of goodwill left the panel of judges suitably impressed. Delanie Bezuidenhout, CEO of the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA), accepted the Gold Award on behalf of Oliver and his Street Sleeper team. Delanie emphasized that the Street Sleeper project is deserving of this accolade and that SAVA is honored to be a proud supporter of this project that transforms the negative impact of waste into immediate relief for those living on the street whilst at the same time promoting social upliftment through dialogue and storytelling.

“We are thrilled to have won the Gold Award as our business is all about innovation.  We are always looking for different ways of tackling challenges and being recognised by the recycling industry and judges in this category is not only a huge honour, but also fits well with how we go about running our social business. Whilst it is always a pleasure to be recognised for work that is done, the manufacturing of the bags is only a small part of our story.  We would be amiss if we did not recognise and thank all the volunteers, donors, corporate supporters and employees who are involved with Street Sleeper and enable us to do what we love,” Oliver concluded.

For more information, visit www.streetsleeper.org or www.savinyls.co.za

Plasticomp cc has become the latest SMME to join the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA). According to SAVA Chief Executive Officer, Delanie Bezuidenhout, Plasticomp has successfully satisfied the criteria for membership and has been accredited as a member and signatory to the association’s Product Stewardship Commitment (PSC).

“We are thrilled to welcome them to the SAVA family.  As a recycler of rigid PVC (PVC-U), Plasticomp has successfully demonstrated that they support our commitment to increase the recycling rates of PVC in South Africa and adherence to the principle of extended producer responsiblity regarding end-of-life material”, Delanie says.

Boksburg-based Plasticomp started its operations in September 2006 providing toll pulverizing services to the PVC-U pipe and conduit customers for their own start-up scrap. Since then, the company has grown significantly and now provide toll services to the LLDPE (roto moulding market), pigments and masterbatch manufacturers in both virgin and recycled materials. They also provide recycled PVC-U powder that they export into Africa as well as supply to local pipe, borehole and profile manufacturers.

“We read about SAVA and the amazing work the association does in trade publications. We identified that there is great potential for working with SAVA members and decided that joining their ranks would signal a clear message about our company’s own commitment to sustainable and ethical practices, whilst at the same time unlocking new sources of PVC-U scap thereby broadening our customer base,” said Anton Tjabring, the Managing Member of Plasticomp.

For more information about Plasticomp, visit their website on www.plasticomp.co.za

For more information about SAVA, visit www.savinylsassociation.co.za