Seeing real products made from recycled plastics and their use across a range of industries is an encouraging sign that the circular economy is working. 

This year, Petco was proud to be one of the sponsors of the 2026 South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) Awards for the Best Recycled Plastic Products.

The awards applaud innovation and progress in plastics recycling and provide a platform to showcase products made using recycled plastics, recognising 37 entries across seven categories.

Petco was pleased to see several of our partners and producer members across the plastics recycling value chain being awarded for the work they do.

Petco member Polyoak Packaging walked away with the Innovation Award for an eco-flat wine bottle in collaboration with polymer producer Safripol and Stellenbosch Vineyards. This wine bottle, made from recycled PET (rPET), has the potential to disrupt the conservative wine industry, where a shift from glass to lightweight PET bottles with a 25% rPET uptake could significantly reduce logistics costs. With its flat shape, plastic screwcap and wash-off label, it is also highly recyclable.

In the packaging category, Mpact Plastics and Extrupet took the award for the Kitchen Syrups bottle, along with partners Safripol, All4Labels and Shoprite Checkers. This syrup bottle, made from 20% rPET, also features a label with an interesting twist – it contains recycled cooking oils, another novel application of recycled content.

And in the Post-Consumer Resin (PCR) Demand Champions category, refuse bag manufacturer Tuffy and Petco-contracted recycling partner Myplas took the win for a campaign that encourages the collection and recycling of HDPE bottle tops on behalf of Operation Smile and the Sweethearts Foundation. In a win-win situation, Myplas pays the two non-profit organisations for the bottle tops collected, which they use to fund free cleft surgeries and wheelchairs respectively for people in need, while Tuffy purchases the resulting recyclate for inclusion in the manufacturing mix for its 100% recycled black bags.

Petco congratulates all the deserving winners and encourages producers to take inspiration from their fresh approach to designing for recycling. (See full list here.)