Having test-run two first automated recycling machines in its Waterfront store, Pick n Pay has expanded the number of stores in which it has placed its machines to three, being Camps Bay, Constantia, and its On Nicol store in Johannesburg.  This is not a minute too soon, given how much litter is generated from Pick n Pay store purchases, if Camps Bay is a sample of one.

At the time that the retailer test-run the two recycling machines in its Waterfront store, it issued a media statement about its waste policy, which included the following description of the recycling machine: 

‘Pick n Pay, in partnership with the V&A Waterfront, has also launched two Reverse Vending Machines whereby customers will be rewarded for recycling any recyclable waste product with a relevant barcode. Customers who recycle more than three times in a month will be entered into a monthly draw and 50 customers will receive a free reusable RPET Pick n Pay bag. Each week one customer will also win a R200 Pick n Pay Waterfront gift card for using the machine. At the end of the campaign, the customer who recycled the most will win a R5,000 gift card’.  I was unable to receive an updated media statement from Pick n Pay, and was sent an older one just focusing on the roll-out of the two Waterfront machines. 

Being located in the Waterfront, the V & A Waterfront added its support for the retailer tenant in creating awareness of the need for recycling: ’At the end of 2017 we made a commitment to eliminate single-use plastic bags and bottles from across our property and we are actively working to make this a reality working alongside our tenant partners. As the country’s oldest working harbour and one of the most recognised waterfronts in the world, we are especially aware of our responsibility to protect the ocean as a natural resource and the need to act urgently’. 

I tested the machine at the Camps Bay store, and would have walked right past it had the store manager not told me about it. I received an sms after depositing a plastic bottle, and found it to not be understandable, and therefore not motivating to add more plastic bottles to the machine, especially after a second bottle I tried to enter into the machine was rejected. This is the sms I received: ‘Hello Eco Warrior, thanks for recycling with Imagined Earth! You have been entered into the Imagined Earth 5 for 5 Airtime Giveaway’. Bizarrely there is no Pick n Pay branding in the message! 

Pick n Pay Director of Transformation Suzanne Ackerman-Berman expanded at the time (November 2018) on her company’s plastic waste awareness campaign combined with waste reduction measures, which focuses on ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’.  One initiative was a life-size rhino which was decorated with plastic waste, created by artist Heath Nash, and was displayed in the Waterfront. ‘Many consumers remain unaware about the unintentional harm they may be causing to the environment by not recycling, re-using, or repurposing plastic. We wanted to visually show consumers the type of plastic that feeds into our oceans and environment every day and that these items can be repurposed if recycled’, the store explained. 

Other waste-reducing measures include a start in phasing out plastic straws, sadly no evidence of this being seen in the Camps Bay store, where more than a year after this promise children are seen to walk out of the store with handfuls of straws, and leave them and the paper-wrapping on the beach and picnic lawns. Corporate branded ear buds with paper inners have been introduced. Bags made from recycled plastic are sold in the stores nationally.  ‘The company also undertook a unique one-day, one-store pilot project to raise awareness and see how customers responded to compostable bags and cardboard boxes as an alternative to plastic bags.’, it added. The compostable bags were found to not yet be feasible, while cardboard boxes were tested in six stores. Paper bags are also being tested for non-packaged fruit and vegetables. It also supports the Ecobrick project, in which 2 litre plastic bottles filled with plastic waste can be used in the building of houses.

In January 2020 Pick n Pay became one of the founding members of the SA Plastics Pact, about which I posted a story earlier this week: 

 

SA Plastics Pact established, City of Cape Town first municipality in SA to face plastic waste and pollution!

 

The retailer has set itself a number of goals to reduce packaging and single-use plastic at its stores in the next five years, wanting to achieve the following by 2025: 

 

It has an additional goal, in that all Pick n Pay-branded products will feature the new on–pack recycling label to help customers understand how best to recycle their packaging, by 2023.

A second media release I was sent, states ‘that extensive work has been done to ensure that a significant proportion of packaging on own brand products include recycled materials.This has extended into its deli and bakery sections. On a trial basis, selected stores have replaced polystyrene takeaway boxes with foil and cardboard boxes’. Sadly this trial replacement of polystyrene takeaway boxes has not reached Camps Bay, as they are seen on the picnic lawns of the suburb daily. It adds:  ‘A key focus is reducing the weight of our product packaging which will have a significant impact. For example, our value-added vegetable bags have maintained a 30 micron thickness, which means thatwe save, on average, 12 tonnes of plastic packaging every year. We’ve also reduced the weight of our plastic herb punnets by 28%, which will result in a reduction of 20 tonnes of plastic per year’. 

Pick n Pay has also began testing the removal of packaging altogether from selected products. ‘Our “nude fruit and vegetable” produce walls are now available in 29 stores after overwhelming customer participation. These offer loose seasonal produce that was previously only available in packaging.’ The retailer is piloting an entire Packaging–Free Zone in its Constantia store. ‘Customers can ‘pick and weigh’ over 88 products across 15 different categories from cereals and pasta to olive oil’.

Note: I am a litter activist in Camps Bay, picking up litter daily, to help keep the beachfront clean and to minimize the waste blowing into the ocean. 

POSTSCRIPT 27/2: This afternoon the Pick n Pay Camps Bay Recycling machine was not working, possibly too full of litter. The security guard told me that it has not been operational since yesterday, The Store Manager did not know. 

 

POSTSCRIPT 28/2:  Today I received a call and an email from Joshua of Imagined Earth, saying that he had an up to date media statement about the Camps Bay recycling machine, not knowing that I wanted it urgently (I had begged Pick n Pay for the past week for information!). This is what he wrote:

’Hi Chris,

I hope you are well and thank you for our discussion this morning.

As we discussed, we are delighted that you have recycled on the RVM in store. We look forward to sharing more of the Imagined Earth vision with you and outlining the steps that are being taken to support the SA Plastics Pact and the circular economy.

There are elements of our partnership with Pick n Pay, reverse vending technology, and how this partnership is empowering people and planet which are not covered in your article that we would like to address.

Can we provide you with an official press release early next week which contains these details, so that you can share this with the community and your reader base?

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me directly.

Thanks again,

Joshua’

 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide