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Visibility problem: Each South African uses 41kg of plastic a year

Mention microplastics, and the examples are almost always about the sea, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or the microplastics found in marine ecosystems. A Portland State University study in 2025 found microplastics in 99% of the seafood samples obtained from a fishing boat, and over 80% came from clothing or textile fibres.

But before plastic pollution becomes invisible to the naked eye, it looks like ordinary litter. In Gauteng, it’s everywhere. According to the Green Gold Group, South Africa releases an estimated 79 000 tonnes of plastic into rivers and ocean annually. Compared to the global average of 29kg of plastic a single person is said to produce annually, South Africans on average generate around 41kg individually, every year.