Nominations for the annual PETCO awards close on the 6th of January so if you know a deserving eco-warrior or green hero, be sure to nominate them.
South Africa (05 January 2023) – Every year, South Africans are awarded for their efforts in protecting the local environment. This year, eleven individuals and organisations will have the opportunity to win at the 2023 awards.
PETCO is responsible for collecting and recycling PET plastic bottles. PET is a formulation of plastic that is able to be “recycled” to reuse the material out of which they are made and to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills.
The PETCO Awards are free to enter, and they welcome entries from both small and large organisations, businesses, community groups, and individuals all over South Africa.
The deadline for submission of nominations is Friday 6 January 2023, 5 pm. That is tomorrow so make sure you have submitted your eco-heroes and green warriors.
Please motivate your nomination comprehensively – this is of great help as often more than one nomination per category is received.
How to nominate someone for the awards.
Please submit the following to petconews@petco.co.za
1. Completed nomination form (download the nomination form here: PDF);
2. Supporting documentation (no more than 5 pages).
Award Categories
1. Environmental Education and Awareness Initiative
About the award: This category looks to recognise initiatives led by organisations or individuals that stimulate innovative ideas that increase recycling and waste management, and those public-facing campaigns that have successfully addressed a recycling challenge (e.g. such as waste and the waste hierarchy, anti-littering awareness, reducing reliance on landfill, increasing plastic recycling, boosting reuse, or reducing waste-generating behaviour specifically amongst South African consumers).
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Who should enter: Any private, corporate or government organisation within the South African waste or recycling sectors that can demonstrate the successful implementation of a public-facing campaign e.g. in schools to reduce waste-generating behaviour.
2. Best Community Recycling Initiative
About the award: This category recognises an individual or organisation whose ingenuity and perseverance have created and sustained successful business ventures or community projects in the PET collection or recycling industry that directly benefit and uplift the communities within which they operate.
Who should enter: Any community group initiatives or individuals who are involved in community recycling projects that can demonstrate how they have raised awareness in their communities via ventures such as reuse, recycling, waste minimisation, educational talks and other recycling projects and, as such, have directly enriched their community.
3. Design for Circularity
About the award: This category celebrates products that exemplify the best of sustainability and have been designed with careful consideration of resources in mind. As such, those products that incorporate recycled PET content, or who have improved the products’ compatibility with recycling infrastructure in South Africa will be considered. Factors such as reusability, end-of-life solutions, waste minimisation, closed-loop processes etc. will be taken into account. This category not only recognises PET products themselves but looks for innovations when it comes to closures and labels.
Who should enter: Brand owners, retailers, manufacturers, converters and product designers that display high levels of innovation and expertise in addressing the technical and manufacturing challenges associated with the responsible design of PET products, and their associated labels and closures e.g. increasing the percentage of recycled PET resin included in the products that they design and/or manufacture or who have made specific changes to improve the circularity of their product e.g. changed the colour of their bottle from opaque or brightly coloured to clear or changed the label design on a product.
4. PET-repreneur
About the award: This category recognises a man, woman or other individual whose entrepreneurial insight, ingenuity and perseverance has created and sustained a successful, growing business venture in the PET collection or recycling industry.
Who should enter: Owners and managers of small, micro and medium-sized enterprises, focused on recycling of PET and other waste streams, that have shown innovation and best practice in their approaches to drive recycling and waste minimisation behaviour in their business as well as in their communities. Those who can systematically demonstrate how they have changed their own circumstances through recycling as well as the impact on their environment for the better will receive preferential attention.
5. Local Authority Recycling Innovation
About the award: This category recognises the importance of partnerships with municipalities and local authorities in addressing waste reduction behaviour and helping to extract and capture value from resources that would be otherwise lost. Critically, as South Africa is running out of landfill space, strong partnerships with municipalities are required to decrease current illegal dumping behaviour and increase constituents’ access to recycling infrastructure.
Who should enter: Any local authority in South Africa that has used creative and innovative methods to drive up their recycling, reuse and waste prevention performance.
6. Recycling Partnership Gamechanger
About the award: This category recognises partnerships, including government (municipal, provincial or national), regulatory agencies, community organisations and private industry, that have successfully implemented game-changing initiatives, policies or programmes that advance recycling and sustainability in South Africa. Examples include, but are not limited to, increased recycling participation, targeted recycling or reuse awareness campaigns, or repurposing closed landfills. Motivations must include tangible examples of how the partnership has resulted in meaningful recycling outcomes or breakthroughs.
Who should enter: Combinations of waste management companies, recyclers, industry, businesses or compliance schemes. The entry must include at least two organisations from different sectors.
7. Top Woman in Collection and Recycling
About the award: This category recognises the importance of women in leadership, specifically within the recycling sector in South Africa, and aims to grow the number of women role models in the sector for future leaders.
Who should enter: Women in the South African recycling sector that have demonstrated admirable leadership, business acumen and strategic foresight in growing South Africa’s economy through recycling and driving recycling efforts in South Africa.
8. Waste Reduction Youth Warrior
About the award: PETCO’s vision is that capacitated, empowered consumers know about PET and know that it is recyclable and safe to use; they understand the potential and value of PET and recycled PET (rPET); they use their influence to drive positive recycling behaviour through recognising well-designed products. This category recognises specifically the role of youth in achieving this vision in South Africa, passionately doing what many adults can’t or won’t.
Who should enter: Any individuals between the ages of 6 and 18 who have tirelessly worked to drive recycling and waste minimisation behaviour in South Africa, through various interventions such as clean-ups (beach or inland) and education programmes around e.g. PET recycling.
9. Excellence in Academia
About the award: This category recognises the importance of having peer-reviewed research underpinning any strategic interventions in the broad areas of recycling, waste minimisation and/or sustainability.
Who should enter: Academics and researchers that are currently undertaking research in the topics of waste minimisation, data management, Circular Economy principles, plastic pollution, marine pollution, life cycle assessments etc., that demonstrate intellectual inquisitiveness, insight, and growth while providing sound strategic and practical applications for research outcomes.
10. Media Spotlight
About the award: This category recognises a journalist, media personality or influencer that has made an outstanding contribution to the awareness and understanding amongst South African consumers of issues pertaining to waste reduction, reuse and recycling. This category recognises the power of the media and how, if used for good, it can have far-reaching positive influences.
Who should enter: Journalists, influencers and media personalities who are actively driving media attention towards recycling, sustainability issues and a Circular Economy.
11. Worth in your Waste
About the award: This category recognises one specific reclaimer or a group of reclaimers who have gone above and beyond to keep South Africa clean and keep valuable recyclable materials out of landfills whilst making a living for themselves. This person or group will also have worked to change the negative stigma and perception that many people have about reclaimers.
Who should enter: A reclaimer or group of reclaimers who have made large strides in informing their communities about recycling and diverting precious recyclables from landfill.
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