News24 | SEE | New Tetra Pak machine gives SA cartons a second life as tiles and pipes

Swedish group Tetra Pak has invested R19 million in a new machine at a Johannesburg plant to boost local recycling.

Karl Gernetzky/News24

• Swedish packaging giant Tetra Pak has invested R19 million in a new carton recycling machine in Johannesburg.
• The machine strips plastics and aluminium from cartons, as the group eyes a 40% recycling rate within the next two years.
• Recycling of boxes, such as those for fruit juice or milk, has been steadily climbing since 2023, and the new plant crucially provides a market for the recycled products, such as roof tiles.
• For more financial news, visit News24 Business.

Swedish packaging giant Tetra Pak, the world’s largest food packaging group, has invested millions into a new recycling machine in Johannesburg.

The machine strips out plastic and aluminium layers from used cartons, producing pellets that can be turned into roof tiles, pipes and furniture.

It is part of an ambitious push to recycle 40% of South Africa’s food and beverage cartons within two years. Carton recycling has already climbed sharply, from just 8% in 2023 to 33% today.

Cartons, such as those used for milk, juice or cereal, are typically made of 70% paperboard, along with 5% aluminium composite and 25% polyethylene plastic to protect food from spoilage.

The pellets can be turned into a range of plastic products.

Karl Gernetzky/News24

Tetra Pak invested R19 million in the new machine, which strips out the metal and plastic, converting them into pellets that are reused as industrial inputs.

Tetra Pak, which sells its products in more than 160 countries, has been working with SA’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for new applications for the pellets.

Tetra Pak head of sustainability for Southern Africa, Masele Manoko, told News24 that the pellets would be a low-cost and more sustainable competitor to high-density polyethylene pipes, and also can compete with concrete roof tiles.

Mpact, South Africa’s leading paper recycler, will process the paperboard component of the waste. Speaking at the launch, Mpact CEO Bruce Strong said the paperboard fibres can be recycled up to seven times.

He added that cooperation between parties, including industry producer responsibility organisation Petco, had been delivering “real results”.

Petco’s 29 members, which include major brands such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Tiger Brands and Tetra Pak, represent most of the plastic beverage bottle manufacturers. The organisation has boosted recycling of such bottles from 16% in 2005 to nearly 76% as of last year.

Manoko said the push towards a 40% recycling target for cartons follows years of effort that includes working with waste pickers, aggregators and municipalities as part of its push towards a circular economy.

Johannesburg’s Unique Timber Products already produces items such as furniture and cattle troughs using recycled materials.

Karl Gernetzky/News24

The recycling machine is operated by manufacturing partner Unique Timber Plastics at its plant in Johannesburg’s Heriotdale industrial area. The facility will create 24 jobs and support thousands of waste pickers.

Unique Timber Plastics also has a deal to provide furniture for all Curro schools.

Manoko said the group has built a monitoring system that allows it to track waste aggregation across SA.

Petco CEO Telly Chauke said the efforts towards a circular economy “might seem quite abstract”, but were keeping cartons out of SA’s rivers, while giving opportunities to the downtrodden in SA.

South Africa’s recycling achievements are often underestimated, not only in the developing world, but also in the ... more developed economies.

Bruce Strong, Mpact CEO

“We’ve built sophisticated collection and recovery systems for many paper and packaging materials, despite operating in a developing economy, with very different challenges faced by developed nations,” he said.

“I think South Africa can stand in the front of the queue saying that we have done a lot to make a big difference.”

SA needs stronger local markets for recycled materials if it is to be sustainable, said Strong, with the new plant offering a perfect example of this.

“Manufacturing capacity is hard to build, but easy to lose,” he added, appealing for deeper cooperation between industry and government to protect local capacity.