Identification of key challenges faced by SME’s in manufacturing biobased plastic products in South Africa | |
| Author | Tshalibe, Welcome Menzi |
| Call Number | AIT RSPR no.MPA-22-22 |
| Subject(s) | Plastics industry and trade--South Africa Manufacturing industries--South Africa Biopolymers--South Africa |
| Note | A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Marine Plastics Abatement |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | With growing global demand to address climate change, an issue gaining momentum is the transition from petro-plastics to biodegradable plastics and essentially the need to establish thriving small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector to drive sustainable bioeconomy particularly in developing countries. In South Africa, SMEs are spearheading the transition however entrepreneurship comes with a set of unique challenges. It is therefore imperative to understand the dynamics of the issues encountered. Though numerous studies have been done on SMEs, no systematic analysis has been carried out in South Africa in relation to the bioplastic sector. This thesis is an attempt to provide a framework which highlights the issues faced by SMEs based on an analysis of 13 empirical studies in South Africa. The findings reflect key constraints related to high electricity coupled with perpetual power cuts, lack of subsidy to cover import of raw materials, inaccessibility of financial resources and several others. On this basis, the study offers recommendations to SMEs to overcome these barriers and importantly to policy makers to relook at designing effective policies to establish programmes that support the SMEs in the bioplastic field. |
| Year | 2022 |
| Type | Research Study Project Report (RSPR) |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Marine Plastic Abatement (MPA) |
| Chairperson(s) | Xue, Wenchao |
| Examination Committee(s) | Atitaya Panuvatvanich;Chatterjee, Joyee S. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of Japan |
| Degree | Research studies project report (M.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2022 |