With municipal landfill capacity in South Africa’s Gauteng province rapidly diminishing, a strategic joint venture between Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) and the private sector is demonstrating how targeted infrastructure investment can divert valuable metal packaging and recyclables from landfill.

The newly commissioned Tonkmeter Material Recovery Facility (MRF), located on a private site in Springs, was established via major capital expenditure from PET recovery body Petco, alongside co-investment from MetPac-SA- the country’s PRO dedicated to metal packaging.

Once fully operational, the MRF will boast the capacity to recover and process up to 600 tonnes of recyclable substrates per month, including aluminum and steel packaging, PET plastics, and liquid board cartons.

Attending the official opening, Gauteng Provincial Waste Management Officer Palesa Mathibeli stressed the urgency of the regional landfill situation:

“We are quickly running out of landfill airspace because we are not diverting waste away from them. Facilities like this demonstrate how government and the private sector can work together to address this growing challenge and how Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) funding can be used to build practical recycling infrastructure that delivers long-term environmental, economic and social benefits.”

Dr Kishan Singh, CEO of MetPac-SA, emphasised that the co-investment aligns directly with the organisation’s push to expand collection networks and maximize metal recovery rates across the country.

“The Tonkmeter facility is an example of the type of collaboration needed to achieve South Africa’s EPR and circular economy objectives,” stated Singh. “Every tonne of recyclable material recovered represents less waste going to landfill and more valuable resources remaining in the economy. Projects such as this strengthen South Africa’s recycling value chain, support waste collectors and recyclers, create employment opportunities, and improve the recovery of metal packaging.”

The surrounding landfill currently accepts roughly 5,000 tonnes of municipal waste monthly. Tonkmeter’s immediate operational focus is to intercept and recover at least 50 tonnes of recyclable packaging material before it enters the landfill stream.

The facility is already accepting baled recyclables from commercial suppliers and independent collectors for secondary sorting and processing. To scale operations, the business plans to integrate informal waste pickers operating at the nearby Rietfontein landfill into a centralized processing framework, offering formal market access and improved revenue stability.

Tonkmeter CEO Leon Grobbelaar highlighted the localized impact, noting: “It’s a very satisfying industry because of the job creation in our KwaThema community and taking waste out of the environment.”

To support high-throughput operations, Petco’s capital layout funded high-capacity conveyor systems, industrial balers, and forklifts—marking its largest single infrastructure investment to date—alongside a digital, cashless payment system for collectors.

Petco General Manager Samu Mkhize concluded: “As pressure on landfill space continues to grow, the Tonkmeter Material Recovery Facility offers a practical model for future investment, showing how government, industry, and PROs can work together to increase recycling, strengthen local value chains, and keep valuable materials in circulation for longer.”