Precinct-focused, retail-centred REIT, Liberty Two Degrees (L2D), has become a supporting member of the SA Plastics Pact and the first participating landlord to work towards a common vision for a circular economy for plastics.
Through its Good Spaces strategic building block, the company aims to create spaces that are agile, adaptable and aligned to the global Sustainable Development Goals, remaining committed to actively transform the retail landscape in a responsible and sustainable way and ensuring its impact on the natural environment is reduced.
This includes tackling plastics waste and pollution at its source, with improved economic, environmental, and societal outcomes overall.
“We have made bold commitments and continue to implement initiatives to ensure that our malls reset, co-create and redefine customer experience responsibly. We are therefore pleased to be a member of the SA Plastics Pact as we further commit to engage in more sustainable methods that encourage the transformation of mounting plastic waste to other useful forms that enable our positive impact on the natural environment” comments L2D Chief Executive Amelia Beattie.
The SA Plastics Pact is the first Plastics Pact on the African continent and it joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact network. South Africa joins a growing number of countries around the world to accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastic. Benefiting from innovation at a global level, the SA Plastics Pact has the autonomy to fashion solutions that work specifically for the South African context.
To tackle plastic waste and pollution, in January 2020, L2D implemented a policy across all its malls to encourage tenants to eliminate the sale of single-use plastic bags. A separate marketing campaign was conducted to educate shoppers around the use of plastics and encourage shoppers to purchase and use re-usable shopping bags. The conversation around the use of plastic products is gaining momentum, and brands are being called upon to make changes. A behavioural change in consumers is becoming more evident as more people start opting out of the excessive use of plastic.
“As a member of the S.A. Plastics Pact, L2D supports the initiative with an emphasis on the ‘reduce’ pillar of the ‘reduce-re-use and recycle’ mantra that has become synonymous with sustainability. The plastics economy needs to fundamentally re-think the way plastic is produced, used, and re-used. The SA Plastic Pact aims to guide a circular economy for the plastics industry”.
“The question is not whether a world without plastic pollution is possible, but what we will do together to make it happen?” – SA Plastics Pact.
Brian Unsted, Asset Management Executive at L2D and chair-elect of the GBCSA for 2021, who is responsible for sustainability, concludes
“The concept of reduce, reuse, recycle is an important part of sustainable living as it helps cut down on the amount of waste, however this alone will not solve the issue. It is imperative that we play an active role in tackling the issue at its source. Our partnership with SA Plastics Pact will see us drive this objective in the retail space”.
