Press releases

Recycling misconceptions

Details: Published: Friday, 27 March 2015 10:39

Recycling is one of the easiest ways each one of us can make a real difference to our environment. Donna-Mari Noble, Communications Manager at Mpact Recycling, says recycling saves water and electricity, and prevents unnecessary chemicals being introduced into the environment, which impacts climate change. Most importantly, it also prevents landfills being filled up with waste paper.

However, she points out that it’s important to know that not all waste can be recycled. Many of the items we discard at home are made of complex combinations of different materials such as paper, plastic, aluminium and more.

Here’s a handy list of what can and cannot be recycled in today’s market:

You can safely recycle:

Newspapers
Magazines
Junk mail
Office paper
School books
Telephone directories
Cereal boxes, toothpaste boxes
Cardboard packaging boxes
The cardboard centres of toilet rolls
Cold drink bottles (PET)
Tetra Pak® packaging: this is a combination of paper, plastic and aluminium.

You cannot recycle:

Wax coated paper, such as dog food bags and paper cups, as well as wax paper
Crisp and sweet wrappers
Boxes coated with wax or oils and grease
Code 7 plastics, such as cat litter bags, as these plastics are usually a multilayer combination of different plastics

Some quick tips to keep your environment clean include:

Sort your household waste into paper, plastic, glass, cans and other for easy recycling. The balance of the waste would be classified as rubbish and go into your normal refuse bin.
Support your local recyclers by dropping off at your nearest recycling point or putting out your sorted bags for them
Get your children involved and don’t be afraid to start small. Paper is collected kilogram by kilogram

For more details of our various programmes visit www.mpactrecycling.co.za

Notes to Editor:
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 and converted paper products packaging value chain and comprises three divisions being Recycling, Paper Manufacturing and Corrugated and Converted Paper Products. 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, pallets 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 4,126 people in 32 operations in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Issued by: Shannon Roscher PR Worx This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 011 896 1818

On behalf of: Donna-Mari Noble Mpact Recycling 011 538 8603