More than three years after the catastrophic demise of the national REDcycle program, soft plastic recycling has made a significant comeback to a major Australian supermarket.
Thousands of tonnes of soft plastic were found hidden in warehouses throughout Victoria, NSW, and South Australia shortly after REDcycle declared bankrupt in November 2022.
Supermarket behemoths Coles and Woolworths have supported the business, paying it $20 million over a ten-year period without disclosing the stockpiling. It appears that only 5% of the plastics that REDcycle gathered were recycled.
Australia has not had a widespread recycling scheme for items like food wrappers, chip packets, and bread bags since a NSW court ordered the company to be wound up months later.
Up until earlier last week, when Woolworths declared that more than 700 stores in five states would once again have special containers for collecting soft plastics.
The Soft Plastics Taskforce is in charge of the trial program, which has been operating in a few Coles and Woollies locations since February 2024. Since the pilot started, hundreds more locations have added collection points, according to Woolworths, with other stores in South Australia joining the program this week.
Rob McCartney, managing director of Woolworths 360, stated, Our consumers have continued to advocate for soft plastic recycling, and we are happy to be able to give them the chance to recycle these items again.
As part of the updated recycling program, about 40 million pieces of soft plastic, or 310,000 kilos, have been gathered and processed thus far.
In Woolworths stores, some of it is recycled into products like wall panelling and own-brand bread bags that contain 30% recycled plastic.
To implement the updated soft plastics recycling program, Woolworths collaborates with Australian recycling firms saveBOARD, iQRenew, and Plascrete.
We are pleased to collaborate with cutting-edge recyclers like iQRenew, which recently launched a new plant in NSW with the capacity to handle 14,000 tons of soft plastics annually. According to McCartney, saveBOARD is converting soft plastic trash into building materials that we already use in 170 stores.
We are collaborating closely with Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia to lead the industry on soft plastics recycling with this relaunched initiative.
Customers seemed to like this week's announcement.
One Facebook user commented, "Hooray," on a post from the City of Tea Tree Gully in South Australia that listed its six participating Woollies outlets.
Another wrote, "Excellent news."
The expanded Woollies program is "only the start," according to Barry Cosier, CEO of Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia.
This industry-led initiative has ensured that nearly 70% of Australians currently have accessible access to soft plastic recycling through supermarket in-store pickups, he stated.
We can grow collections in more stores, retailers, and locations as more brands and retailers join SPSA, pushing participation rates much beyond present levels.
The Soft Plastics Taskforce oversees the expansion of Coles and Aldi programs.
A complete list of the Woolworths stores participating in the program can be seen here.
0 Comments