In April, the Petco team headed to the Chloorkop Landfill Site for a recycling workshop to empower the on-site waste pickers and help them divert recyclable waste from going to the landfill.

The initiative, in partnership with EnviroServ, set out to equip the collectors with the practical knowledge to improve the quantity and quality of collections of our key material streams – PET and liquid board packaging (LBP) – and encourage responsible recycling practices that support the circular economy.

During the PET recycling awareness session, the team explained how to identify recyclable and non-recyclable materials, avoid unsuitable PET products, such as opaque coloured bottles, and reminded them of the four colours to focus on – clear green, brown, blue and colourless PET bottles.

Against the backdrop of the landfill, it was also important to understand the need to prevent contamination from paint, food residue and other waste materials.

To help grow the collection of milk, juice, wine and custard cartons, the LBP team showed the collectors how to identify qualifying cartons by their silver aluminium lining, and explained the recycling value of this multi-layer material.

As an added incentive, the activation encouraged participating collectors with all kinds of useful giveaways, from long-life custard to personal protective equipment and cellphones.