The WWF in partnership with leading retailers: Clicks, Food Lovers Market, Pick ‘n Pay, Spar, Shoprite, and Woolworths are making the recycling of plastic easier for consumers. Together, they have unveiled uniform recycling instructions, called On-Pack Recycling Labels (OPRLs). These labels will alert a consumer as to whether or not the packing of a product can be recycled. Other companies are expected to join OPRLs after the initial roll-out.
The new OPRLs will contain information that states whether packing is “Recycled” or “Not Recycled”. The information will either be on the packing of the product itself, or in the package where the packaging is flexible. These features will be added in addition to the existing resin codes that customers often confuse to mean that packaging can be recycled, but which is not the case.
The Project Manager of the WWF Circular Plastics Project, Lorren de Kock said that OPRLs is “An effort that’s been running in the industry for about eight years, so concluding a transparent and widely consultative process is no small feat. We trust that it will make both the consumer and the waste-pickers’ task of understanding what is recyclable much easier.”
Read more on the recycling initiative here:https://www.wwf.org.za/our_news/news/?29161%2FWWF-announces-simplified-recycling-labels
