PlastiColors has incorporated EcoPure® into the bags used for its masterbatch products. By adopting the additive in its own packaging, the company demonstrates its confidence in the solution and its commitment to sustainability

PlastiColors exhibited at the Future of Sustainability Conference in Johannesburg, showcasing EcoPure®, a biodegradable plastic additive solution manufactured and distributed for South Africa and Africa under PlastiGreen. Representing PlastiColors at the stand were Jamie Wilson (National Sales Manager) and Michelle Fleming (Director)

PlastiColors showcases EcoPure® and adopts it in its own packaging

PLASTICOLORS exhibited at the Future of Sustainability Conference in Johannesburg, where the company showcased EcoPure®, the biodegradable plastic additive solution manufactured and distributed for South Africa and Africa under PlastiGreen. The Future of Sustainability 2026 Conference, held from 24-25 March, brought together thought leaders, policymakers, business executives, and industry experts from across Africa to advance actionable strategies toward a zero-carbon, wastefree, and fully sustainable continent. The exhibition reflects PlastiColors’ growing focus on practical sustainability innovations that integrate into existing plastics manufacturing processes without compromising recyclability or product performance.

The Future of Sustainability Conference underscored advancing sustainable practices and the significant hurdles that persist across industries. Plastics and plastic packaging featured prominently in discussions, with delegates highlighting the ongoing threats posed by plastic pollution, particularly marine pollution and microplastics. While South Africa’s recycling rate of approximately 28% in 2024 ranks among the highest in the world, it also means that over one million tonnes of plastic, nearly three-quarters of all plastic waste generated, went unrecycled that year. Delegates emphasised the urgent need for complementary solutions that work within existing recycling infrastructure to further reduce the environmental footprint of plastic waste.

EcoPure® is an organic additive that helps conventional plastics biodegrade in microbe-rich landfill and marine environments, without affecting the product’s normal performance during use. A key feature of EcoPure® is that it does not affect the recyclability of the plastic. Added at low dosage levels during manufacture, it works by attracting microbes to the plastic’s surface, where they form a biofilm and begin breaking down the polymer over time.

Importantly for converters and brand owners, EcoPure® can be incorporated into existing production processes without requiring equipment changes. From a commercial perspective, EcoPure® also offers a compelling sustainability advantage. It is the most affordable way to make conventional plastics biodegradable and, for many applications, the only practical route to achieving biodegradability. Just as importantly, EcoPure® is not an oxodegradable additive: rather than causing plastics to fragment, it is designed to enhance true biodegradation through microbial activity.

In a clear demonstration of its belief in the technology, PlastiColors has also changed the bags used to sell its masterbatch products to include EcoPure®. By incorporating the additive into its own packaging, the company is showing customers that it is prepared to stand behind the solution in practice, not only in principle. The move reinforces PlastiColors’ message at the conference: sustainability must be credible, commercially viable and visible throughout the value chain.