Check out your waste when shopping this festive
25 November 2025
As the festive season approaches, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday leading the annual rush of specials, the City of Cape Town’s Urban Waste Management (UWM) Directorate is urging residents to shop smart by keeping waste reduction front of mind. Consumers need to make conscious choices to reduce unnecessary packaging, limit impulse buying and help shift the market toward more sustainable products.
The excitement of festive deals often overshadows the environmental impact of our shopping habits. While these sales bring joy and convenience, they also generate a surge in packaging, single-use plastics, and unwanted goods that are quickly discarded. The City is calling on residents to help lighten the load by reducing, reusing, and recycling wherever possible. Municipal recycling services play an important role, but they cannot solve the waste challenge alone.
Here are some tips to help reduce waste associated with the festive season:
Cut down on unnecessary purchases and only buy what you need. Items with short shelf lives contribute to waste creation and fill up our landfills quicker.
Choose products with less packaging, recyclable or refillable packaging to help influence manufacturers to reduce unnecessary packaging waste.
Buy in bulk to cut down on packaging.
Choose durable products that won't need to be replaced often.
Support local businesses that don’t sell packaged products and encourage buyers to bring their own bags.
Recycle via City services such as the drop offs or Think Twice programme, or private service providers.
‘As Capetonians, we need to consider our consumption habits so that less waste ends up at landfill. Everyone creates waste so it is everyone’s responsibility to work together to look after our environment for future generations.
‘Through waste diversion programmes, including recycling initiatives and home composting, the City diverts about 32% of a total 2,1 million tonnes of waste generated in Cape Town every year, and hopes to grow this figure significantly. In addition, the imposition of Extended Producer Responsibility is progressively forcing businesses to take responsibility for the waste produced by their products,
‘However, the reality is we need the public to play their part to minimise waste if we want to noticeably reduce environmental pollution. A significant amount of waste can be eliminated through the choices we make at the shops,’ said Alderman Grant Twigg, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management.
Caption 1: The City is calling on residents to help lighten the load by reducing, reusing, and recycling wherever possible.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
