With the festive season countdown already begun, shopping malls are decorated and geared up for Christmas shoppers anxiously hunting for gifts and grabbing armfuls of wrapping paper, gift boxes, greeting cards, advent calendars and other bits and pieces typical of this time of year.
But once the gifts have been unwrapped, packaging ripped open, the crackers pulled, Christmas cards discarded and feasts devoured, what happens to all the waste?
Mpact Recycling is asking consumers to put aside recyclable paper and packaging rather than dispose of it with the rest of their household waste.
"Although it seems the easiest way to dispose of recyclable materials might be to throw them away with the rest of the garbage, Mpact Recycling’s neighbourhood "paper banks" make it simple for communities to continue recycling throughout the festive season," says John Hunt, managing director of Mpact Recycling.
Mpact Recycling, a division of Mpact Limited, has a number of paper bank drop-off points conveniently located at schools, churches, community centres and forecourts in neighbourhoods across Gauteng, the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. It also operates a paper recycling collection service in some of these areas that will, apart from national public holidays, remain open throughout the festive season.
"Recycling paper is especially easy around this time of year as there is an abundance of it to be found, meaning that sorting and separating it is less of an issue for consumers," says Hunt.
Mpact collects upwards of 457 000 tons of recovered paper per year and about 70% of this is used by the Group’s paper mills in the manufacture of recycle-based paper and packaging.
Hunt says that using only virgin fibre in the manufacture of paper-based packaging is not sustainable for the environment or for the packaging sector. It’s therefore critical that enough recycled paper is collected for conversion into fibre, he says.
The input of recovered paper also has a positive impact in terms of climate change because it replaces virgin material and reduces greenhouse gas emissions linked to the production of virgin fibre, and prevents the land-filling or incineration of recovered paper.
"There is a growing awareness and sense of responsibility among consumers to buy packaged foods and goods that are environmentally sustainable," says Hunt, "So by recycling at home, consumers are at the source of this positive change."
Recycling work also provides jobs for around 100 000 people in South Africa, many of whom are entrepreneurs and small business owners that rely on sustained volumes of recycled material to earn a living.
Says Hunt: "Beyond the gifts, the feasts and the festivities that characterise this time of year is the spirit of giving, and in this case, giving back to our communities and to the environment. The effort that it takes for one person or household to recycle is small, but the difference that it makes will be felt far and wide."
Notes to editors
For more information about the Mpact Recycling kerbside collection service and paper banks in your neighbourhood please contact Mpact Recycling:
Toll-free
0800 022 112
Gauteng
Tulisa Park: 011 538 8600
Midrand: 011 315 8450
Pretoria West: 012 380 0920
Springs: 011 360 4460
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Richards Bay: 035 751 1722
Durban: 031274 6600
Western Cape
Parow: 021 931 5106
Issued by
FTI Consulting – Strategic Communications
Kgomotso Moalusi: +27 (0) 11 214 2413 / +27 (0)76 941 2902
Trevor Jones: +27 (0) 11 214 2414 / +27 (0)83 326 7698
*High-res images available on request
On behalf of
Mpact Limited
Donna Noble, Communications Manager, Mpact Recycling: +27 (0) 11 538 8603 / +27 (0) 82 879 6269
About Mpact
Mpact is a leading manufacturer of paper and plastics packaging in Southern Africa. The Paper business is integrated across the recycled paper-based corrugated packaging value chain and comprises three divisions being Recycling, Paper Manufacturing and Corrugated. The Plastics business manufactures rigid plastic packaging for the food, beverage, personal care, home care, pharmaceutical, agricultural and retail markets. Products include PET preforms, bottles and jars; plastic jumbo bins, wheelie bins, and crates; plastic containers for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market; styrene and PET trays, fast food containers and clear plastic films. The Group employs 3,760 people in 32 operations in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.