MechChem Africa March-April 2023

⎪ Environmental management, waste and cleaning technologies ⎪

Boost for black-owned recycling A UNIQUE enterprise development programme is set to be a boost for small, black-owned recycling businesses, creating jobs and improving the long-term sustainability of the recycling value chain in South Africa.

A new enterprise development pro gramme focusing on recycling buy back centres is being implemented by one of South Africa’s most en during producer responsibility organisations, PETCO, along with its funding partners. The programme will provide structured training and mentorship as well as infrastructural, equipment and funding support to enable entrepreneurs to grow their post-consumer waste collection volumes and run their busi nesses more effectively. PETCO CEO, Cheri Scholtz, says the initial programme was introduced in KwaZulu-Natal in early 2023, with a view to rolling it out across South Africa as more funding partners come on board. “PETCO is very serious about creating a sustainable recycling value chain, with a plan which looks ahead as far as five years,” said Scholtz. She said the newly launched enterprise de velopment programme would make a positive contribution towards the transformation of the waste collection and recycling sector and the inclusion of small to medium enterprises in the waste value chain. “The small business cannot be seen in isolation. It is essential to ensuring a reliable supply of quality feedstock to our recycling partners and must be supported as a key element of our overarching socio-economic and environmental strategy,” Scholtz explains. Sue Jurgens, operations manager for implementing partner, Enterprise Room, says nine businesses who met the pre-qualifying

untary to mandatory EPR environment is less of a seismic shift for PETCO than for other organisations just starting out. “Whereas before we set internal targets for KPIs like collection, we now have regulated targets and, as a result, the conse quences for missing targets are more severe. However, our approach remains largely the same,” says PETCO CEO, Cheri Scholtz. She reveals that expressions of interest from potential funding partners in other provinces would be welcomed and that such investment support would also earn the funder B-BBEE scorecard points on their economic development spend. “We have already had some exciting communications from organisations wanting to participate,” she concludes. petco.co.za funding to expand further – even after the programme has ended. “Systemic change takes time, which is why PETCO’s overall strategy is realistic. There is a tendency in South Africa for corporates to put businesses on programmes in the hope of achieving results very quickly. The businesses we work with will experience change within the pro gramme but must remain sustainable there after. Long-term vision and support to drive strategic and behavioural change is required,” Jurgens continues.

PETCO is a registered Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) that was originally incorporated in 2004 as a voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) organisation to represent the South African plastic industry’s effort to self-regulate post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling. With almost two decades of experience in this landscape, the transition from a vol criterion of producing at least 20 t of poly ethylene terephthalate (PET) per month had been selected following a rigorous application and assessment process. “The business assessment reviews the SME’s level of business regulatory compliance and the full spectrum of business activities in the creation of its product and service – from receiving materials through to delivery to market and everything in between,” explains Jurgens. “Then we focus on supporting and guiding the business development process, which covers financial management, marketing, operational efficiencies, cost effectiveness, staff management, identifying opportunities for new business and plans for job creation, as well as maintaining regulatory compliance,” she adds. The consolidation of all these elements creates opportunities for the small business to continue its growth and obtain future About PETCO

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