Governing plastics differently: a strategic blueprint for South Africa's circular economy transition

Abstract

South Africa stands at a pivotal moment in its transition towards a circular plastics economy. Despite a comparatively extensive legislative and policy framework for waste management, persistent implementation gaps, uneven enforcement capacity, infrastructure constraints and variable municipal performance continue to impede efforts to reduce plastic pollution. This study develops an evidence-informed strategic framework for strengthening South Africa's plastics governance through qualitative analysis of domestic legislation, policy and institutional evidence, supported by comparative international experience. The analysis identifies opportunities to strengthen implementation of existing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements, municipal waste-management capacity, monitoring systems and waste-reclaimer integration, alongside conditional policy options including pilot evaluation of deposit-return systems (DRS), targeted controls on problematic single-use plastics and microplastic sources, reuse and refill systems, and selected fiscal and market instruments. Greater legislative coordination is also considered, including assessment of whether identified governance gaps are better addressed through a dedicated National Plastics Act or strengthened coordination of existing environmental legislation. A phased, scenario-based roadmap is proposed to support sequencing according to institutional readiness, implementation evidence, economic feasibility and distributional effects. The framework does not establish the causal effectiveness or economic optimality of the proposed interventions; rather, it provides a structured basis for evaluating and progressively strengthening plastics governance under South African conditions. Particular emphasis is placed on socially inclusive implementation, including meaningful participation and livelihood protection for waste reclaimers, alongside improved environmental monitoring, regulatory accountability and circular material management.