The return of a producer registration obligation in South Africa

This notice echoes a similar document published in August 2016, which was cancelled and withdrawn as a result of industry pushback. The current notice contains 2 obligations for producers:

• The first is that all producers of EEE, lighting and packaging need to register with the Department of Environmental Affairs by the 6th of February 2018.
• The next requirement is the formulation of industry waste management plans. Producers can either formulate their own plan or join a waste management plan of a producer association. The deadline for these waste management plans is September 6th 2018. It is important to start with these plans in time, as all plans are subjected to stakeholder participation. This includes an announcement of the waste management plans in 2 regional newspapers.

With this Notice South Africa makes a great leap towards more producer responsibility, possibly inspiring other countries in Africa as well.

Source: Sagis EPR