Defining a sustainable framework
Facilitating a circular economy
Good design closes the loop
The circular economy challenges the traditional “take-make-dispose” linear model of production and consumption. Instead, it aims to create a closed-loop system, where resources are kept in circulation for as long as possible, minimising waste and maximising their value. Design is critical to ensuring that happens.
In a circular economy, products and materials are designed to be reused, repaired and recycled. This ensures their longevity and reduces the need to extract finite raw materials.
By embracing this approach, we can break free from the unsustainable cycle of depleting resources and accumulating waste.
Recycling is critical – but so is design. Design influences the recyclability of the materials and determines the end-of-life options available. A well-designed product can make it easier to sort, process and reuse the materials, while poor design hinders recycling and results in waste.
To close the loop in the circular economy, retailers, brand owners, packaging manufacturers and designers must start with the sustainable end in mind and apply innovative thinking to put design at the centre of product development.
What is Petco's role in this?
We’re committed to the journey towards a circular economy. We do this by working with members to ensure that their packaging is designed to be collected and recycled, increasing collection and recycling rates and working to develop new end-use markets for recycled materials. This will contribute to fewer and fewer recyclables ending up in the environment and ensure that they continue to add value in our economy.
Since 2011, Petco has facilitated the closing of the loop for PET beverage bottles in South Africa. Bottle-to-bottle recycling represents the most sustainable use of the raw material, which means we are using fewer resources to make new bottles and saving carbon.
Petco now also administers a scheme for liquid board packaging, and we are working towards creating a circular economy for this type of packaging in South Africa.
The business case and rationale for a circular economy
With a circular economy mindset, businesses can redesign their supply chains for resource efficiency and circularity. The circular economy is already responding to and altering consumption patterns, shifting the world from traditional ideas of ownership to sharing, reusing, repairing, repurposing and recycling. The circular economy:
- Promotes sustainable, inclusive economic growth – generating economic benefits and new business opportunities.
- Replaces linear “take-make-dispose” model and the notion of “end of life” for products.
- Keeps resources within the economy and ensures that raw materials are used again and again, reducing costs and adverse environmental impact.
- Reduces the pressures on the world’s finite natural resources through sustainable production and consumption patterns.
In South Africa, Petco plays a central role in this shift.
We’re always learning and collaborating
Petco aligns with global standards when it comes to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). This is not just because we have to; we set extremely high standards, benchmarking ourselves against international partners, seeking best practice. By doing so, we keep abreast of developments and drive constant improvement in the Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) landscape. Find out more from some of the organisations we partner with and that guide our practice:
We also collaborate locally
What can you do?
Become part of the circular economy by collecting and sorting recyclables as a consumer, signing up with Petco as a producer, or innovating and learning as a designer or manufacturer. We need packaging that is designed to be recycled; consumers and retailers can lobby for this and can also throw their weight behind the collection and recycling of what’s already there.
Petco offers support to many stakeholders, from sponsoring infrastructure and equipment and essential tools of the trade to training collectors and to facilitating workshops with municipalities. Get started by adding us on WhatsApp 060 070 2077, following our social media channels, subscribing to our newsletter, or contacting us at info@petco.co.za.