PETCO WORKSHOP: Designing for the Environment (Cape Town)

PETCO WORKSHOP: Designing for the Environment (Cape Town) 

PETCO created the Associate Membership Programme for organizations who are not represented in the shareholding of PETCO but would like to become part of the PETCO family as they subscribe to our principles.

This is workshop 1 of 2 for the remainder of 2018, focusing on 'Designing for the Environment'.

We live in a world where take, make, dispose – a so-called linear economy – is a way of life for many South Africans. However, we now know that this way of life is not sustainable. We must therefore urgently transition to a circular economy, one which looks at waste as a resource. This, often referred to as ‘closing the loop’, implies that resources are brought back into the supply chain after the end life of the product. In this model, packaging would never become waste; rather, it re-enters the economy as a valuable technical or biological nutrient.

A circular economy goes beyond ‘just getting better at recycling’. It’s about thinking about how waste can be designed out of products and processes in the first place, or indeed re-used as a raw material for making new products. While recycling is a necessary component of a circular economy, it should only be considered when there are no other alternatives for re-use, remanufacture or repair. This is the basic premise of the waste hierarchy, which prioritises the most effective solutions to waste management. 

Truly designing for the environment is about product stewardship, about forward-thinking initiatives, about innovation and breaking new ground to achieve never-before-seen solutions. In order to design for the environment, we need to be thinking about reducing the overall impact of a product on the environment before it enters the production stage. Thus, it is important to open dialogue between all stakeholders in the product value chain to increase the products that are designed more mindfully. 

The recycling of packaging does not begin with its collection, but with its design. To maximise recycling of plastic packaging, it is essential that retailers, brand owners, packaging manufacturers and designers embed recyclability principles into their pack design processes so that, at the end of its life, the packaging material can be successfully recycled and used again in new products and packaging. This maximises the quality and quantity of material that can be recycled, supports the achievement of recycling targets and helps with the transition to a circular economy.

PETCO has provided Guidelines for those wanting to make their PET packaging easily recyclable. This document provides them with the information to ensure their packaging is compatible with the available recycling infrastructure and that their products are marked clearly, correctly and consistently.

The objectives of this workshop are to share these guidelines, using PET bottles, and provide tips on how to design packaging that is easily recyclable through showcasing relevant examples of South African products. We will also hear from knowledgeable people within the industry about how their businesses are and can be impacted when bottles are not designed optimally.

Date: Tuesday 23 October 2018

Time: 8:30am – 12 noon

Venue: Hotel Verde, Airport Industria, Cape Town

Please note, PETCO members receive preferential entry into the workshop and special discounts. If you are a PETCO Member, please contact Kara Levy at [email protected] for your promo code, which entitles you to four complimentary tickets as a Voting Member, two complimentary tickets as an Associate Member, and a 50% discount on any additional tickets purchased.

Tickets are R450 for non-members.

Light snacks and drinks will be provided. 

There is limited seating available so book your ticket today!

FULL PROGRAMME

08:30 – 09:00 Registration

9:00 – 09:05 Welcome and introductions

Janine Basson – Stakeholder Relations Manager, PETCO

09:05 – 09:20 Setting the Scene

Cheri Scholtz – CEO, PETCO

09:20 - 09:40 Conversations with Converters

Claude Naidoo – Plant Manager, Serioplast South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

09:40 – 10:00 Break

10:00 – 10:20 Harnessing the Power of Smart Design in the Anti-Plastic Age

Chandru Wadhwani – Joint Managing Director, Extrupet (Pty) Ltd.

10:20 – 10:40 Looking at the big picture - Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in product design

Takunda Chitaka - PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town

10:40 – 11:10 PANEL DISCUSSION: A #FutureFocus: Designing for the Environment Today, Tomorrow and Beyond.

All presenters, facilitated by PETCO.

11:10 – 11:15 Thanks and Acknowledgements

11:15 - 12:00 Lunch & networking

More about some of our speakers:

Chandru Wadhwani:

Chandru is the joint Managing Director of Extrupet and is a BSc Business Studies graduate from City University in London, UK. He has been involved in the Textile & Plastics industries for the last 27 years across the African continent; 16 of those years have been spent in South Africa as part of the team responsible for the setting up and running of Africa’s leading PET and HDPE bottle recycling company, Extrupet (Pty) Ltd. The Group’s major expansion in this space was the introduction of a Starlinger System in 2014 . The plant has been running successfully at the Johannesburg site and new market segments such as CSD’s and Bottled Water have been penetrated. The site remains BRC certified and both its ‘Food Grade’ plants have an EFSA opinion document, with the Starlinger line polymer having been approved for use up to 100% in food-grade packaging.

Takunda Chitaka:

Takunda Chitaka is a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. She holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and a MPhil specialising in Sustainable Mineral Resource Development from UCT. Takunda’s research is driven by the desire to develop specific knowledge surrounding the myriad of sustainable development challenges faced by developing countries. This includes research experience in minerals beneficiation, multi-criteria decision making, life cycle assessment and sustainability performance assessment. Her current research is focused on the life cycle management of plastic products that are prone to accumulation in the marine environment in South Africa. This research takes a design approach to an issue that is traditionally viewed from a social science or waste management perspective. It includes mapping of plastic flows to the marine environment as well as exploring the life cycle impacts of potential interventions for problematic plastics.