Key stakeholders and government officials continue to develop informed approaches to issues surrounding soft plastic recycling in Australia.
Australia’s Soft Plastics Taskforce, a government-led initiative to address the recycling soft plastics, has had its authorisation extended by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The taskforce made up of Australian supermarkets, was originally set up to develop and implement strategies around improving the collection, recycling, and overall handling of soft plastics in Australia.
Last month, Coles, Aldi, and Woolworths, sent an application to the ACCC to extend the collaboration to 31 July 2025.
The ACCC gave temporary approval with conditions so the stockpile clean-up and in-store collection pilot can continue while they review the full application. The conditions require the participants to keep the ACCC informed with meeting minutes and quarterly progress reports.
The ACCC originally granted collaboration in June of 2023 after the collapse of the REDcycle soft plastics scheme.
The REDcycle soft plastics supermarket scheme was a recycling program launched in partnership
with Coles
The scheme was designed to address the recycling of soft plastics, such as plastic bags and packaging, which are not typically processed through standard curb side recycling systems.
The primary goal of the taskforce is to enhance the recycling system for soft plastics, which includes items like plastic bags, wraps, and other flexible packaging.
It aims to create a more effective and sustainable approach to managing these materials.
The taskforce is also responsible for developing action plans and strategies to address the specific challenges faced by the soft plastics recycling sector.
This may include improving collection systems, investing in new recycling technologies, and setting up more efficient processing facilities.
Part of the taskforce’s role is to engage with the public to raise awareness and gauge consumer behaviour around the importance of recycling soft plastics.
As part of its charter, the taskforce may also work on developing or recommending policies and regulations to support better management of soft plastics, including potential changes to industry practices and consumer behaviour.
After the collapse of REDcycle, several areas of concern were highlighted, namely kerbside collection of soft plastics, and studies were launched in response.
A survey of residents in trials for the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS) shows that people who hadn’t used the old REDcycle drop-off program have started recycling soft plastics through kerbside collection.
Of the respondents, about 60 per cent had used store drop-off for their soft plastics while others used drop-off options at places like council depots.
When asked about their preferred method for recycling soft plastics, most people favoured the NPRS model, which involves putting soft plastics in a special bag and placing it in the household recycling bin.
This preference is based on over 1,000 survey responses from households participating in trials across six council areas in Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales.
The NPRS model involves collecting soft plastics from curb side to be recycled into new food-grade packaging as part of a local recycling system.
Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) CEO Tanya Barden said that while REDcycle was useful, store-return schemes aren’t suitable for large-scale soft plastics recycling in Australia.
“While work is continuing on a short-term solution to REDcycle’s suspension, the NPRS project is a long-term solution dealing with large-scale collection and recycling,” said Barden.
“What store-return plastic recycling demonstrated is the dedication of Australians to recycling soft plastics. The NPRS is an industry-led scheme where the companies putting soft plastics into the marketplace are taking the lead and providing a real solution.”
According to The Australian Institute, only about 15 per cent of all plastic in Australia is currently being recycled, and only 18 per cent of plastic packaging.
And plastic use in Australia is expected to double by 2050.
Further research from the institute concluded that a European Union-style tax on plastic could also net almost $1.5 billion annually.
The analysis suggests that the federal government could generate $1,300 per tonne of ‘virgin’ or unrecycled plastic by imposing a levy on businesses that import or manufacture plastic packaging.
“Australia is facing a growing tsunami of plastic waste and is expected to miss every recycling target it has set,” said Australia Institute’s Circular Economy & Waste Program director Nina Gbor.
“We’re recovering less than a fifth of the plastic waste used each year, with consumption expected to more than double to nearly 10 billion tonnes by 2050.
“If recycling was the solution to the plastic waste crisis, it would have been solved by now. Instead, it just encourages the production and consumption of even more waste that is choking our landfill and oceans.
“Unless we drastically reduce or gradually phase out plastics altogether, in favour of compostable materials, this plastic waste problem will continue to grow.”
The EU levy, introduced in 2021, required members to pay $1,300 per tonne of plastic packaging waste. With Australia recording 1.179 million tonnes of virgin plastic
“We know that Australians support tougher action to kerbside plastic waste, and that taxes and schemes requiring producers to fund the collection and recycling of plastic they produce are working overseas,” said Gbor.
“Australia’s plastic consumption is increasing, not falling. The government needed to act yesterday and should start by following the EU’s lead.”