Making their debut on the South African music scene, a band of animated characters are stepping into the spotlight and creating a real-world impact by teaching children to recycle through song and dance.

Brought to life by South Africa’s longest-standing producer responsibility organisation, Petco, the Jikis are five digital mascots who have just released their single, “Jiki Jiki for Change” on streaming platforms YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.

The catchy music video, which has already had over 850,000 views on YouTube, introduces the message of recycling to the next generation of South Africans. Learners from Gauteng primary schools will be among the first to learn the Jiki dance at the awards ceremony for Petco’s Get in the Loop inter-schools recycling competition at the end of November.

The music video is accompanied by ‘Once upon a landfill’, a children’s bedtime story about the Jikis’ adventures, an educational recycling-themed kids’ activity book, and – for parents encouraged by their children to recycle – resources on how to get started.

Petco marketing manager Kara Rohleder said the Jikis were named from the South African slang term “jiki-jiki”, meaning “all of a sudden”.

“Their purpose is to relay Petco’s message that change is possible and that there is  value in turning recyclable packaging into new and useful products – instead of it ending up in landfill or the environment where, like the Jikis, it does not belong.”

According to Stats SA’s General Household Survey 2025, only 10.5% of households currently separate or sort recyclable materials from household waste for recycling.

“The Jikis are born out of South Africa’s waste problem and are on a mission to change how we all think about the collection and recycling of valuable recyclable packaging,” explained Rohleder.

“Education and awareness is a big part of the work that Petco does, because the more you know, the better you can do in terms of changing your behaviour as a consumer.”

Rohleder said teaching children about recycling was an effective starting point because it encouraged the development of positive habits from a young age and, as Petco’s school recycling drives showed, children were often the catalyst for their families to start recycling.

“Once you start on your recycling journey, you learn that there are so many factors involved in its success – from advocating for more sustainably designed and produced packaging to the availability of infrastructure that makes collection and recycling possible.”

She said the Jikis had been positively received by the public, with one person likening them to the 1980s anti-littering campaign featuring Zibi the cartoon ostrich.

“They said, decades later, the ‘Zap it in the Zibi can’ message had stayed with them. It’s a great example of how environmental awareness campaigns can have a lasting impact. We believe the Jikis can do the same for the new digital generation.”

Livio Tronchin, executive creative director of Derrick, the advertising agency that created the characters, said: “Recycling is often communicated as a bit of a chore. It’s worthy, necessary but not particularly exciting. With the Jikis, we wanted to create entertainment that also educates. We wanted to create a band of characters that people might actually want to spend time with.”

“They were created entirely using generative AI, but behind that sits more than a year of very human strategy, character development and craft,” Tronchin continues.

He said that the ambition was to build a long-term property for Petco that makes separating recyclable packaging from waste at source feel less like a duty and more like something people want to be part of.

Rohleder added that Petco’s website offered easy-to-understand resources about what can and can’t be recycled, and how to collect and separate at home.

“The Jikis are a great introduction for those who don’t know Petco and what we do. We hope they’ll make more people curious about recycling and help South Africans build a more sustainable future for years to come.”