Despite a challenging year for South Africa’s recycling sector, grassroots buy-back centres are experiencing a 20-30% boost in productivity, thanks to critical infrastructure investments supporting their collection and recycling operations.
This support comes from Petco, one of South Africa’s leading producer responsibility organisations, which has been helping its members – who pay extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees on packaging – fund these initiatives to ensure the sustainable recycling of post-consumer waste.
According to an analysis by Petco, on the back of a difficult 2025, the recycling sector worldwide faces another tough year, but the organisation has been continuing its long-standing support of small recycling collection businesses with the machinery, training and logistical support to turn post-consumer packaging into sorted, processed and baled material.
The collected post-consumer packaging is then sold to recyclers and fed into the country’s circular economy, where the recycled content is reincorporated into new products and packaging. Over the past year, Petco made strategic investments in infrastructure and equipment support for small businesses, amounting to almost R9 million, up from R4.5 million in 2024.
The latest chapter in Petco’s work involves the support of two Gauteng-based buy-back centres: Flink Pik in Pretoria and InWaste Green in Johannesburg. Both have recently received infeed conveyor systems, catapulting their productivity by 20 to 30 per cent.
“A conveyor system is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in a recycling operation,” said Tlou Sebola, Petco’s collections and training manager. “Instead of workers moving recyclables one by one into a baler, the belt automates that process, reducing manual labour and improving safety and efficiency across the board.
“We want to empower these businesses to keep doing the work that makes our members’ sustainability commitments real,” said Sebola.
Flink Pik has been processing paper and plastic since 2009, engaging Petco in 2023 when it began collecting Tetra Pak liquid board packaging (LBP).
Petco sponsored storage cages and branding, followed by a six-metre branded trailer in 2024, valued at over R80 000, to extend collection areas and improve logistics. The business saw its monthly PET collections grow from 46 to 120 tonnes, and now collects an average of four tonnes of LBP per month. In early 2026, Petco added a horizontal baler and an infeed conveyor system at a combined investment of almost R900 000.
PET processing is expected to increase by a further 40% as a result, with LBP collections up by 10 to 15%.
“The conveyor and baling machine help with production capacity. We use less rope because of heavier bales and need less stacking space,” said Henk du Preez, co-owner of Flink Pik.
Another business that has seen the benefits of Petco’s ongoing support is InWaste Green, a Johannesburg-based business that has been receiving assistance since it first applied for sponsorship in 2017.
To date, Petco has provided branded containers, trailers, and sponsored a truck modification that allowed it to accommodate roll-on/roll-off waste cages, totalling over R600 000. That support helped the business survive Covid-19, sustaining jobs and waste picker incomes. InWaste Green has since grown its workforce from 50 to 60 employees and now buys from 2 500 active waste pickers – up 40% from 2017.
The late-2025 conveyor system sponsorship, which also included site signage and 38 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE), valued at over R500 000, brings total Petco support to the business to over R1.1-million.
The conveyor system is expected to lift PET processing efficiency by 25 to 30% and will enable InWaste Green to introduce LBP collection for the first time, opening a new revenue stream and diverting more material from landfill.
“My team and I would like to express our gratitude to Petco for their unwavering support,” said Miriam Moses, co-owner of InWaste Green. “We are truly thankful for their trust in our vision.”
Saturday Star Reporter
iol.co.za
