Important news regarding legislative changes which will have an impact on your business, and which will require action from you.

On 11 August 2016, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) published the National Environment Management – Waste Act 59 of 2008 Notice giving notice to the Paper and Packaging Industry, Electrical and Electronic Industry and Lighting Industry to prepare and submit to the Minister Industry Waste Management Plans for approval.

For ease of reference, you can download a copy of the Section 28 Notice here.

Some important points to note include:

1. ALL existing producers MUST register within 30 days of this notice.
2. All producers MUST prepare an Industry Waste Management Plan (IWMP) or be part of a submission.
3. An IWMP has to be submitted to the Minister within 3 months of the date of the notice – this includes publishing the Plan and affording stakeholders 30 days to comment.
4. A producer who fails to register or submit a Plan, or fails to belong to a Plan will be guilty of an offence – severe penalties include fines and imprisonment.

As the current Producer Responsibility Organisation for PET, PETCO has been engaging with DEA for the past eight years, both independently and in conjunction with Packaging South Africa and Plastics South Africa, and we are in the process of preparing a plan.

PETCO will keep in regular communication as the process unfolds.