Huge bin change on the cards

Australians could soon be able to recycle soft plastics through their yellow bin in a proposed overhaul of how bins are used.

A trial of the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS) has shown positive responses from about 7000 households in Victoria, South Australia and NSW to placing soft plastics in orange bags inside the yellow-lid recycling bin.

Findings from the trial run by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) have found that those who had not used the now-defunct REDCycle drop-off scheme that collected soft plastics outside supermarkets had begun to recycle them through their yellow bin.

The survey of more than 1000 households taking part in the trial found that people favoured using the yellow bin for recycling over all other options, with only 60 per cent of respondents using the REDCycle program.

The program is seen as a long-term alternative to the store-return scheme which could not be the solution for large-scale soft plastics recycling according to AFGC chief executive Tanya Barden.

“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,” Ms Barden said.

“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.”

REDCycle was declared insolvent after failing to pay storage fees on thousands of tonnes of plastics, with investigations locating secret stockpiles across NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

The company’s collapse angered supporters with thousands of tonnes of plastic being sent to landfill instead of being recycled.

The NPRS would step in to create a circular plastics loop and cleaner recycling stream, according to the AFGC.

It would involve collecting soft plastics such as confectionary wrappers and cereal bags to be sorted cleaned and shredded before breaking them back down into oil to be made into new plastic packaging.

The plan is for the scheme to be funded by industries that use soft plastics with food and grocery manufacturers to pay a levy toward the cost of collection and administration.