SAVA exceeds EPR recycling targets
THE Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA) reports strong progress in PVC recycling and product stewardship, exceeding national recycling targets for post-consumer PVC packaging despite increasingly difficult conditions.
During Year 4 (2025) of its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme, SAVA’s recycling partners collectively recycled 587,902.48kg of post-consumer PVC packaging – a rate of 10.33%. This performance significantly exceeds the 6.5% target set for the year by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE).
The results demonstrate substantial growth across the programme. The total amount of PVC packaging placed on the market by SAVA members increased by 19.71%, while the volume of post-consumer PVC packaging recycled more than doubled, growing by 138.98% compared to the previous year. As a result, the effective recycling rate improved from 5.2% to 10.33%, representing almost a 100% increase in recycling efficiency.
Recycling sector faces significant pressure
While the results are encouraging, SAVA notes that South Africa’s recycling sector is under pressure. According to industry data released by Plastics SA, total PVC recycling volumes declined to 19,586 tons in 2024, down from 26,100 tons in 2023. Despite this, the output recycling rate for PVC packaging remained stable at around 7%, indicating continued resilience within the packaging recovery system.
Factors that contribute to the volume slowdown include pressure from cheap and sub-standard imports, low virgin polymer prices, a shrinking local manufacturing sector, operational challenges faced by recyclers, and limited laboratory testing capacity for materials and compliance.
“These challenges affect recyclers across the plastics value chain, not only PVC. We also continue to see a large amount of finished goods coming into the country in PVC packaging, and these importers don’t contribute to EPR fees,” says Monique Hinds, CEO of SAVA.
Ongoing investment in recycling initiatives
However, SAVA continues to support several recycling initiatives and infrastructure investments, including financial and technical assistance to local recyclers, and continues its financial support into 2026 for postconsumer PVC recycling projects.
SAVA continues to run its vinyl flooring off-cut recycling programme, which collects installation off-cuts from flooring projects and channels them back into recycling streams. The association is actively working with recyclers and partners to develop new end-markets for recycled vinyl flooring material.
A decade of product stewardship
These initiatives build on more than a decade of leadership through SAVA’s Product Stewardship Commitment (PSC), launched in 2011 to promote responsible PVC manufacturing and product safety.
Milestones include South African PVC pipe manufacturers successfully transitioning to lead-free stabilisers in 2012, five years ahead of the European Union. SAVA members also remain committed to eliminating harmful additives such as mercury, lead and cadmium, while strictly controlling emissions of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).
Compliance with these principles is verified each year by SAVA, assuring that locally manufactured PVC products meet high health, safety and environmental standards.
Supporting a sustainable PVC future
As the industry navigates challenging trading conditions, SAVA believes collaboration across the value chain is essential for strengthening South Africa’s recycling ecosystem. By continuing to support recyclers, develop new endmarkets, and promote responsible manufacturing practices, SAVA aims to ensure that PVC remains a sustainable and widely recycled material in South Africa’s evolving circular economy.
