Supermarkets launch pilot collection scheme after REDcycle fiasco

Australian shoppers are again able to recycle soft plastics, three years after the collapse of a supermarket collections scheme.

The REDcycle failure, in which plastic was collected and stored but not recycled because it was not economic to do so, left an 11 000-tonne stockpile sitting in warehouses in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

A regulator, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), oversaw the creation of a Soft Plastics Taskforce. It involves major supermarkets and aims to process the waste mountain. The initiative is reported to have been reduced to 3 500 tonnes. Most of the scrap was mechanically recycled into lower-grade plastics.

Instore pilot

The ACCC has also allowed supermarkets to restart instore collection pilots. Around 500 Woolworths, Coles and Aldi stores in NSW and Victoria are accepting soft plastics from local shoppers. The trial is expected to be extended within the next 12 months.

It is a voluntary scheme run by Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA) and paid for by levies collected from retailers, brands and plastics producers. There have been calls for a mandatory arrangement because those signed up for the scheme account for only 15% of waste plastic put on the market.

Stepping stone

ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said in August: ‘We believe the proposed scheme will result in an environmental benefit as it aims to take over and expand the current in-store collection and kerbside pilots for recycling soft plastic packaging. This means some soft plastics are likely to be diverted from landfill.

‘While we know that soft plastic recycling has faced many challenges in Australia, we consider that the SPSA scheme is an important stepping stone to expanding collections and recycling.’

The ACCC expects the scheme to run for eight years.