Refuse bag manufacturer Tuffy recently added to its impressive collection of sustainability-aligned accolades by claiming a  gold medal at the 2026 South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) Awards.

The  company won the Post-consumer Resin Demand Champion Category for its “tough enough to care” campaign, which encourages South Africans to collect and donate plastic bottle tops to non-profit organisations Operation Smile South Africa or the Sweethearts Foundation.

By selling the collected bottle tops to plastic recycler Myplas, the two NPOs raise funds to deliver cleft surgeries and wheelchairs to South Africans in underserved and rural communities who do not have access to specialist medical care.

Driving demand for this recycled bottle top material, Tuffy now buys over 20 tonnes of raw material a month to add to the mix in manufacturing its 100% recycled black refuse bags.

Tuffy’s business unit lead, Rory Murray, said the “tough enough to care” campaign closed the loop on plastic bottle tops by giving them a second life in Tuffy’s products, while also improving the quality of life for many people.

“We’re excited to join forces with our partners that make this campaign possible and, in the process, helping two such deserving organisations. It proves that recycling works and can do good for the world around us in more ways than one,” he said.

He explained that the product range had been tested since November last year and that it retained the same quality and integrity as before.

The Cape Town manufacturer has been a perennial winner at the SAPRO Awards.

In 2013, the 100% recycled plastic content carrier bags it produced for Checkers won the  Best Recycled Product Competition.

It followed this up with joint silver at the 2019 SAPROs in the Switch Award category, which acknowledges businesses that have consumed large volumes of recycled materials to help ensure that recyclers can sell their products.

In that same year Tuffy partnered with WWF SA to create greater awareness around the waste-to-landfill impact on the environment through on-product messaging, in-store communication, and other relevant activities.

Tuffy was the first organisation in the country to be certified for using 100% recycled material in its refuse bags and the first to receive accreditation from an international product verification company to verify the claim 100% recycled.

Sweethearts Foundation CEO Ashley Nel said partnerships like the one the non-profits enjoyed with Tuffy showed the “incredible impact that can be unlocked when organisations, businesses and communities work together toward a shared purpose”.

“Environmental action and social impact should not exist separately. When combined, they create sustainable change that benefits both people and planet.”