Local flooring company Polyflor SA was once again in the privileged position to assist Carte Blanche with their “Making a Difference” campaign by donating a 780 m2 vinyl floor for use in the creation of an Infant High Care Ward at the Sebokeng Hospital. According to Tandy Coleman, CEO of Polyflor SA, this was the 8th year that the company has been involved in this campaign which aims to equip and renovate Paediatric Operating Theatres, ICUs and High Care Wards in selected state academic hospitals throughout South Africa. “Supplying hospitals and healthcare facilities with top quality and specialist vinyl flooring solutions is one of our areas of expertise. For this reason we were very excited to partner with the Carte Blanche Making a Difference Trust the first time they approached us for a corporate sponsorship many years ago. We saw it as an ideal opportunity to give something back to the community and to help make a lasting and tangible difference where it was most needed,” Tandy says. Carte Blanche is South Africa's longest running investigative journalism television programme. Eight years ago, it launched its “Making a Difference Trust”, which has since then raised well over R115 million for assisting paediatric units in government hospitals across the country. Academic hospitals are intentionally targeted as beneficiaries to ensure that future doctors can be trained at these facilities that serve large numbers of the uninsured paediatric population. The Sebokeng hospital is an 800 bed, peri-urban, regional hospital situated in Sedibeng (south of Johannesburg) that historically served a population of well over 1 million inhabitants. In recent years, the hospital has had to adjust to the growing demands of a rapidly increasing population, as job seekers move to the area in the hope of finding employment. High mortality is a challenge facing the hospital on a daily basis, as the residents of the Sedibeng District continue to face diseases such HIV and …
Kabega Primary wins clean-up and recycle competition
Kabega Primary School in Port Elizabeth has once again proven their mettle as a group of learners committed to sustainability and cleaning up their environment, by emerging victorious in Plastics|SA’s annual Clean-Up and Recycle Competition. According to Jacques Lightfoot, Sustainability Manager at Plastics|SA, the aim of this yearly competition is to encourage schools, organisations and the public to involve their friends, family and communities in a clean-up or recycling activity. “We required the entrants to supply us with a short report and photographs of their initiatives as part of our Clean-Up and Recycle SA Week activities,” Lightfoot said. This event was sponsored by Plastics|SA’s Sustainability Council, Pioneer Plastics and Tufflex and offered exciting prizes, including cash prizes, a 6-seater picnic table and a 3-seater bench made from recycled plastics and a four-in-one recycling station. Entries for this year’s competition came from schools around South Africa. “We judged the entries based on how many participants were involved in their respective projects and whether they managed to involve their community. Kabega Primary was a clear winner and stood out for us because of the amount of recycling and other environmental and sustainability work it does. It is an amazing school that is clearly dedicated to making a difference in their environment as they organized clean-ups in Baakens River Valley, Willows and Seaview,” Lightfoot said. The school received as its prize an award certificate and a bench made of recycled plastic which was placed in the Grade 1 area of the school, in order to make the little ones aware of the school's green emphasis. Vaalpark Primary came second in the Primary School Category, and Louise Van Tonder was named the winner in the Organisation Category. “We were once again unbelievably impressed with how industrious, creative and motivated the young people can be when it comes to bringing about real and lasting …
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Global Plastics Industry Effort to Combat Marine Litter Grows in 2016
Seven new signatories were added to The Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter, also informally known as the “Joint Declaration” in 2016. New participants include the American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA), the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BPGMEA), the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), the Ghanaian Plastics Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the Myanmar Plastics Industries Association (MPIA), the Indonesian Olefins, Aromatics and Plastics Association (INAPLA), and the Vietnam Plastics Association (VPA). “We’re excited to welcome each of these new partners, who bring perspectives from countries in Asia and Africa, on types of plastic not previously represented in our Joint Declaration,” said Steve Russell, Vice President, Plastics, American Chemistry Council, at the 27th Global Meeting on Plastics and Sustainability in Hanoi, Vietnam. At the meeting, delegates also agreed that going forward the group will become the “Global Plastics Alliance.” Delegates from 17 countries and four continents participated in the Global Meeting – making this the largest and best attended meeting to date. “Addressing marine litter issues effectively requires that we bring local, regional and global stakeholders together,” said Karl-H. Foerster, Executive Director of PlasticsEurope. “Broadening our fold helps us find new partners and opportunities to tackle this very serious problem.” “Plastic producers from around the world are coming together to keep used plastic out of the environment, and to further improve the sustainability of these energy and resource efficient materials. The strong participation at this meeting demonstrates that this industry is committed to providing solutions to ensure a more sustainable future,” said Callum Chen, Secretary General of the Asia Plastics Forum. “Together, as a united, global industry, we’re involved in hundreds of marine litter prevention …
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PIPES X CONFERENCE: A decade of service to the plastic pipe industry
The Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) hosted its PIPES X Conference on Tuesday, 6 September 2016 at the Byte Conference Centre in Midrand with the support of main sponsors DPI Plastics, Rare Plastics, Marley Pipe Systems and PipeFlo. Welcoming the more than 200 delegates who were in attendance, SAPPMA Chief Executive Officer, Jan Venter, said their annual PIPES Conference has become firmly established in the industry’s events calendar. “The plastic pipe industry is arguably one of the most important industries in South Africa’s infrastructure as water distribution, waste disposal, irrigation, telecommunications and a myriad of other services rely on pipe infrastructures to work effectively. Through hosting our yearly PIPES conferences and other activities, SAPPMA has proven that we are heavily invested in the well-being of the local plastics pipe industry – especially where standards and technical specifications are concerned. We have already exposed more than 1 500 delegates to close to 200 technical papers since the first time we hosted our PIPES conference. This year we are privileged to have 17 experts in their field sharing their expertise with you coming from as far afield as Australia, Spain, Germany and the Middle East,” Venter said. Keynote speakers at this year’s conference were Corné Krige - ex-Springbok rugby captain who led the team to the World Cup in 2003 – who shared some of the life lessons he had learned about effective leadership in sport and business, followed by Ralph Triebel of LHA Management Consultants who gave an overview of the trends in the local pipe market. Many of the papers presented on the day reflected the current problems South African industries is facing in regards to the accreditation of national standards. Explained Venter: “Quality in general and long-term product quality, in particular, is one of our cornerstones. Considering that approximately 40 000 km of plastic pipe is manufactured …
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POLYFLOR CEO SHARES HER JOURNEY TO SUCCESS IN “EXPERTS MAVERICKS”
Tandy Coleman, CEO of Polyflor SA, was selected to share her journey to success in a brand-new book entitled, “Expert Mavericks”, compiled by international Laughter & Happiness Professor, Shareen Richter. This publication showcases thirteen extraordinary individuals - each one a maverick in their field - and highlights their individual journeys, struggles and important life lessons learnt along the way. Other personalities featured in the book include hip-hop artist Cassper Nyovest, Craig Wing, a futurist who worked at Google and Air Mauritius Regional Manager Carla Da Silva. According to Richter, a maverick is someone who is a visionary, someone who creates change in communities, and who creates change in people’s lives. Someone who can impact a few or impact a thousand. “I put together this book because I wanted to showcase how incredible South Africans are, how taking ordinary people with a passion and a dream, you can achieve anything and become anything. There is so much opportunity in South Africa and the intention of this book is to inspire others to be the best that they can be and to be a maverick in any area that they choose. Each one of the mavericks is completely different from each other,” Richter said. A portion of book sales is going to the Smile Foundation, an NGO that assists children with treatable facial anomalies like cleft palates and other conditions. Commenting on how she feels about being featured in the book, Coleman says: “I was incredibly humbled when Shareen first approached me to share my story with her for inclusion in the book. Whilst I never regarded myself as one of the giants in business, she convinced me that I do have a story to tell of how I learnt from my mistakes, grew from my successes, and used these lessons to become the best version of me I could be. I relish any opportunity I get to give back to the community, and to be able to make a difference in other people’s lives. Being part of this book was very …