Johannesburg - Buyisa Ebag, a company tasked with job creation in waste collection and in educating people about littering, is to start operating later this month.
"We are waiting for the stakeholders to appoint staff and once everything has been finalised, it will probably start operating this month," said Joseph Matjila, the chief director of pollution and waste management at the department of environmental affairs.
The non-profit company was formed earlier this year following legislation a year ago that banned the use of thin plastic bags in favour of thicker and durable bags to curb environmental pollution.
Buyisa Ebag is also tasked with recycling the new bags.
Matjila said the government had set aside R20 million for Buyisa Ebag. He could not comment on how many job opportunities would be created.
Bill Naude, the executive director of the Plastics Federation of SA, said the plastic bag industry was in the process of appointing the chief executive and finding premises for the firm.
Two months ago, the government increased the levy paid by retailers to the treasury on plastic bags used by customers from 2c to 3c.
The department of environmental affairs would make a proposal to the treasury to allocate money from the levy to Buyisa Ebag, Matjila said.
Naude said the demand for plastic bags had dropped 30 percent since the legislation came into force.
The recycling industry had encountered problems since the new law was enforced because the volume of bags and of recycling plastics had dropped.
"We hope Buyisa Ebag will help get the recycling process up again," he said.
Kobus Botha, the managing director of plastics packaging firm Transpaco, said there was little demand for plastic and consumption had dropped dramatically.
"There are some action plans on the table that would help redevelop the recycling industry," Botha said.
Riz Hassen, the managing director of Flexpack, one of Nampak's divisions, said Flexpack had "seen the demand for the new bags drop by around 25 percent and stabilised around that level in the last few months".