Every year, Clean-Up and Recycle Week SA provides a great opportunity for South Africans to rally round and remove used packaging and other waste from the environment – where it doesn’t belong.

With its primary focus on cleaning up our surroundings and promoting recycling, this national campaign extends beyond its key dates of 16 to 21 September. In practice, the whole of September has evolved into a testament to the power of environmental stewardship in South Africa.

Backed by this year’s theme of “Making a Difference”, September was a very busy month for Petco, as our various teams collaborated with individuals, communities, organisations and businesses to educate about recycling and help remove plastics and litter from our country’s neighbourhoods, rivers, streams, and beaches.

Cleaning up in KZN

To get the ball rolling, and prior to Clean-Up and Recycle Week SA’s official launch, the Petco team was invited by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs to join a recycling engagement initiative in Newcastle.

Running from 9 to 10 September, our objective was to educate industry stakeholders and waste collectors about current best practices in recycling and collection of PET and liquid board packaging (LBP).Over the two days, we also took the opportunity to share information on how to run and grow a sustainable collection and recycling business.

The two-day event was a sterling success, with close to 180 people attending, as well as the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), three local municipalities, and various recycling businesses.

For Petco, the event once again confirmed that partnerships are the lifeblood of any campaign aimed at minimising waste and its impact on our environments.

Western Cape tackles waste

 Following the Newcastle initiative, on Saturday, 14 September, we joined forces with our members Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages (CCPB) and Polyoak Packaging to drive coastal cleanups in the Western Cape – on Robben Island and at Strandfontein Pavilion.

With CCPB’s support, and Petco team members joining the mission, within a mere three hours a staggering 1000 Petco bags were filled with waste.

This massive cleanup event was further supported by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), Two Oceans Aquarium, SANParks, and CapeNature.

While the Robben Island cleanup was taking place, Petco was also represented at Polyoak Packaging’s annual family beach cleanup at Strandfontein Pavilion.

On the day, it was encouraging to see how generous the Polyoak staff members were with their time. Their enthusiasm also inspired everyone who participated, including the many families visiting the beach and joining cleanup activities. Petco had great fun handing out prizes for those who collected the most waste and for a sandcastle-building competition!

A big thank you needs to go to CCPB and Polyoak for inviting Petco to these two cleanups. It’s only through collaborations such as these that we can make a marked difference to the health of our coastal environments.

Educational outing in Gauteng

Next up, on 16 September (the official start of Clean-Up and Recycle Week SA), Petco’s Gauteng team visited a secondary school in Daveyton, where we helped the local community in a cleanup of the area’s parks and other public spaces.

With DFFE attending, this event further provided us with a platform to raise awareness and educate about the importance of recycling to the attendees, who included the school’s learners.

Concluding Petco’s participation in this year’s Clean-Up and Recycle Week SA, on 21 September we joined the Institute of Packaging South Africa (IPSA) and 40 volunteers for a cleanup at Milnerton’s Woodbridge Island beach.

This cleanup was a stark reminder of the types of hazardous waste found on our beaches, such as bottle caps, lollipop sticks, styrofoam packaging, and different kinds of microplastics – which have a negative impact on our marine life.

Judging by the amount and types of materials collected, the Woodbridge Island beach cleanup exposed the need for greater education and awareness among fishermen and other beachgoers to help turn the tide on litter, and to become more conscious of their actions when visiting our coastal environments.

Working together

Over the last few years, the month of September has become one of Petco’s busiest periods.It’s a time when we not only encourage and support other organisations and community groups in taking a hands-on approach to South Africa’s litter challenges, but also educate about recycling and the measures we all can take to rid our environments of waste in its different guises.

(One really simple example is to put your cap back on your empty beverage bottle before discarding it in the bin, so that they don’t get separated and the closure doesn’t end up in the environment.)

South Africa’s war on waste will always be a collective battle in which so much more can be achieved if we stand together and strive to foster a culture of environmental responsibility that maximises resource efficiency and public participation.