Food processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pak has commissioned a new PolyAl processing plant in Germiston, Gauteng – a R19-million investment that will help convert used beverage cartons into new industrial products.

It aims to increase the country’s carton recycling rate to 40% by 2030.

The plant separates the polyethylene and aluminium layer, known as PolyAl, from used beverage cartons once the paper fibre has been recovered for papermaking.

The recovered PolyAl is processed into pellets, which manufacturing partner Timber Plastics converts into finished products including outdoor furniture, roof tiles and pipes.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has supported product development, helping validate applications such as roof tiles designed to compete with traditional cement products and pipes being developed as an alternative to conventional high-density polyethylene piping.

“We’ve worked quite hard with a variety of partners. The CSIR being one of them, whereby we develop applications that are suitable to the South African market and make sure that we continue to drive innovation,” says Tetra Pak Southern Africa sustainability head Masale Manoko.  

He notes that the investment builds on several years of progress in the country’s carton recycling rate, which has grown from 8% in 2023 to 33% currently.

“It’s not been easy, but here we are today,” he quips.

Tetra Pak has supported this with targeted infrastructure investment, including a monitoring system giving real-time visibility of collection points and buyback centres across the country and a team of graduates deployed across all nine provinces to work directly with buyback centres and collectors, resolving on-the-ground challenges every two weeks.

Mpact recovers the paper fibre from used cartons at its mill, while Timber Plastics manufactures the recycled PolyAl into finished products.

Petco, the producer responsibility organisation that coordinates collection under South Africa's extended producer responsibility regulations, works with waste reclaimers, buyback centres and municipalities to channel cartons into the recycling system.

Petco’s liquid board packaging scheme performance has grown from 8% to 33% under this partnership.

Manoko emphasises that waste pickers who collect and sort cartons remain essential to the process. “This whole process that you see here involves partners in each and every stage. We cannot do it alone.”

Government has signalled continued review of the extended producer responsibility framework, aimed at strengthening requirements for producers.