South Africa’s premier environmental awards, the Petco Awards, recognises excellence in reuse, recycling and waste minimisation when it comes to packaging. Its range of categories are open to all types of changemakers – from individuals and community groups to businesses and organisations – nationwide.
Winners are recognised for embracing Extended Producer Responsibility, contributing to driving collection and recycling, and reflecting the principles of sustainability, the circular economy, design for recycling, SMME development and integrating the informal sector into the value chain.
You can nominate any individual, company or group that you feel meets the criteria in one or more categories. Please provide a detailed and comprehensive motivation for your nominee.
Entry is free of charge and the deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday, 7 February 2025.
The Petco Awards are presented annually as part of our mid-year AGM (date and time to be confirmed). Don’t miss it! Subscribe to the Petco newsletter to receive further updates. For any queries about submissions, please email marketing@petco.co.za.
About the award: This category recognises initiatives that stimulate innovative ideas that increase collection and recycling, as well as public-facing campaigns that have successfully addressed a waste management challenge (such as waste and the waste hierarchy, anti-littering awareness, reducing reliance on landfill, increasing recycling, boosting reuse, or reducing waste-generating behaviour specifically amongst South African consumers).
Who should enter: Any private, corporate or government organisation within the South African waste, collection and recycling sectors that can demonstrate the successful implementation of a public-facing campaign (e.g. in schools) to reduce waste-generating behaviour.
About the award: This category recognises an individual or organisation whose ingenuity and perseverance have created and sustained successful business ventures or projects in the collection or recycling industry that directly benefit and uplift the communities within which they operate.
Who should enter: Any community group initiatives or individuals who are involved in community collection and recycling projects. Nominees should be able to demonstrate how they have raised awareness in and directly enriched their communities through ventures such as reuse, recycling, waste minimisation, educational talks and other recycling projects.
About the award: This category recognises someone whose entrepreneurial insight, ingenuity and perseverance have created and sustained a successful, growing business venture in the collection amd recycling industry.
Who should enter: Owners and managers of small, micro and medium-sized enterprises focused on collecting and recycling packaging. They must show innovation and best practice in their approaches to driving recycling and waste minimisation behaviour in their business and in their communities. Preference will be given to those who can systematically demonstrate how they have improved their own circumstances and the environment through collecting recyclable packaging.
About the award: This category recognises the best kerbside collection projects/separation at source (S@S) initiatives in South Africa. This category celebrates the longest-running, most effective and efficient, affordable, and best-executed projects, whether led by a small company or a corporate entity.
Who should enter: Small companies, corporate entities or municipalities running kerbside collection projects/separation at source (S@S) initiatives that demonstrate longevity, efficiency, and excellence in waste management practices. Entrants should showcase their commitment to sustainable collection methods, cost-effectiveness, and innovation in sorting processes.
About the award: This category recognises partnerships, including government (municipal, provincial or national), regulatory agencies, community organisations and private industry, that have successfully implemented game-changing initiatives, policies or programmes that advance collection, recycling and sustainability in South Africa. Examples include, but are not limited to, increased recycling participation, targeted recycling or reuse awareness campaigns, and improving waste management. Motivations must include tangible examples of how the partnership has resulted in meaningful recycling outcomes or breakthroughs.
Who should enter: Collaborations between waste management companies, recyclers, industry, businesses or compliance schemes. The entry must include at least two organisations from different sectors.
About the award: This category celebrates packaging that has been designed with careful consideration of resources in mind. Packaging that incorporates recycled or renewable content, or that has improved the product’s compatibility with recycling infrastructure in South Africa will be considered. Factors such as reusability, identifiability, end-of-life solutions, waste minimisation, closed-loop processes etc, will be taken into account.
Who should enter: Brand owners, retailers, manufacturers, converters and designers that display high levels of innovation and expertise in addressing the technical and manufacturing challenges associated with responsible packaging design.
About the award: This category recognises a comprehensive collection and recycling initiative implemented at a large scale, in a public space. These could include in the street, at transport junctions (bus, train, taxi ranks), shopping centres or events, with a focus on circular waste management and promoting education. This award celebrates initiatives that have demonstrated measurable impact, scalability, and effective integration of collection and recycling and anti-littering into large-scale operations.
Who should enter: Shopping centre management, workplaces, municipalities, organisations or event organisers that have implemented and demonstrated a holistic and impactful initiative. Entrants should showcase the scale, innovation, and educational aspects of their initiatives.
About the award: This category recognises facilitation agencies or organisations that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and fostering collaboration and knowledge creation, facilitating the transition to a circular economy in South Africa. This award celebrates the impactful work of facilitators who bring together diverse stakeholders, conduct valuable research, and drive positive change through collective efforts and working groups.
Who should enter: Facilitation agencies, organisations, or initiatives that have played a pivotal role in fostering collaboration, research, and awareness to enhance the transition to a circular economy in South Africa, this can include waste management, design for recycling, labelling, collaboration, pilots, standards etc. Entrants should showcase the tangible outcomes and positive impacts achieved through their efforts.
About the award: This category recognises individuals or organisations that actively promote and inspire conscious consumer choice and encourage sustainable behaviour. This award honours those who have made a significant impact in shaping consumer behaviour towards environmentally conscious decisions and fostering a culture of sustainability.
Who should enter: Advocates, influencers, or organisations that have made significant efforts to educate and inspire consumers to make environmentally conscious decisions. This award seeks entries from those who have effectively communicated the importance of conscious consumerism and its impact on the environment.
About the award: This category recognises projects/businesses that have previously been supported with infrastructure, equipment or training from Petco and have taken that support and catapulted their businesses to the next level. The submission can show that this has lead to an increase in the cleanliness in the community, improvement in waste management in the area, creation of income opportunities for those living in and around the area in which they operate and increased collection and reprocessing of valuable recyclable packaging, leading to an increased amount of diversion of this packaging from landfill.
Who should enter: Projects (Businesses/collectives - SMMEs, co-operatives or individuals) that have been supported by Petco in the past and who can demonstrate significant growth since this support.
We welcome nominations from anyone countrywide and we are excited to read your submissions!
Regards,
The Petco Team
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