3 minute read

A CIRCULAR ECONOMY ENSURES LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY

By Annette Devenish, Marketing manager, Sani-touch

There is consensus that single-use plastics are bad for the environment. The pandemic has resulted in greater utilisation of single-use plastics and put the spotlight on potential solutions.

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Is the answer to ban all single-use plastic items, including plastic straws, water bottles, hand wipes and disposable masks? The answer is clear-cut as far as plastic straws and water bottles are concerned but less clear cut when it comes to wipes and disposable masks.

In the case of the latter, a more effective solution than a blanket ban is to find simple and effective practices that will result in sustainable circular economies and job creation.

That’s precisely what Infection Protection Products set out to do during the pandemic, given the rapid increase in the use of its pre-saturated wipes. When pre-saturated wipes were first introduced into the South African market about 15 years ago, they were produced using, biodegradable paper. However, this special wet-strength paper is imported and expensive, and it soon became necessary to look for more cost-effective solutions.

Polypropylene is the preferred material used internationally for pre-saturated wipes. The availability of polypropylene locally is an advantage, as is the fact that it’s recyclable. However, getting polypropylene into a circular economy at that stage was easier said than done given that the volumes were too small and collecting, gathering and sorting used wipes from other refuse is a messy and timeconsuming job.

Fast-forward to the Covid-19 pandemic and a massive increase in the use of pre-saturated Annette Devenish, Marketing manager, Sani-touch wipes. We realised the volume issue had been addressed and all we now needed was a sustainable solution that benefited everybody along the recycling chain.

The only way that a circular economy will work is if it is simple and economically viable. By working closely with recyclers and upcyclers, we created a viable system that has the added benefit of creating jobs.

We faced numerous challenges along the way. These included motivating customers and recyclers and getting support from environmentalists, albeit a difficult task to try to convert some environmentalists from banning products to finding sustainable solutions.

In the latter half of 2021, we converted all our 100% polypropylene wipes to an easily identifiable green colour to distinguish them from those of our competitors, which may not be recyclable. We also converted the Sani-touch Saniwipe buckets, their catches and stickers, to 100% polypropylene so even the buckets can be recycled. With the support of one of our larger retail clients, we put the system in place.

Recycling companies are now recycling the used wipes into pallets which are then returned to Infection Protection Products for use in our factories and warehouses, replacing traditional wooden pallets.

The polypropylene pellets - small plastic chips - on the other hand, are used for various products such as in carpet, furniture and container production.

Our sustainability journey is about taking one product at a time and finding sustainable solutions, constantly innovating along the way. It’s about making incremental changes to ensure that our solutions are cost-effective and fit-forpurpose. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring a better future for our planet.

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