Consumers can no longer drop off soft plastics for recycling at major supermarkets with collection paused because of pressure on a recycling contractor, with fears it will now end up in landfill.
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The REDcycle bins that sit at the front of Coles and Woolworths supermarkets are familiar to any eco-conscious shopper, acting as a disposal point for household soft plastics for a decade.
On Wednesday, REDcycle said in a statement collection had to be paused and provided no suggestion of when the service would resume.
"Consumer recycling of soft plastic has grown exponentially in recent years, with a 350 per cent increase in plastic returned since 2019," the statement read.
"However, due to several unforeseen challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, REDcycle's recycling partners have temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics."
Since REDcycle's launch 10 years ago, it claims to have diverted 5.4 billion pieces of soft plastic which would have otherwise ended up in landfill or in natural environments, recycling collections into asphalt, concrete, farm posts, trolleys, and benches.
Recyclable packaging brand Upac managing director Gavin Wilson said the increase in consumers recycling soft plastics had been 'too much too soon' and manufacturers did not yet have the processing capacity to use it all.
"It's more to do with the volumes of material that are starting to come through the REDcycle program, which is a great result from the community and consumers point of view," he said.
"[But] the volumes that are coming through have probably started to outstrip the amount that can be used by Australian manufacturers who have recycling processes in place in their facility for mulching and processing the soft plastics into reusable plastics."
The REDcycle program provided the only consumer-facing soft plastic recycling for the majority of Australian households.
ACM understands a small number of councils are currently running trials, though the vast majority of Australian households still have no access to soft plastic recycling through their council collection.
The Victorian Government has also proposed to introduce soft plastic recycling into household kerbside council collection services.
REDcycle has advised consumers to put soft plastics in with regular household rubbish in the meanwhile.
A spokesperson for Woolworths said it was "disappointed by the situation".
"Redcycle has only recently informed us of a number of challenges in their recycling network and a delay in new recycling capacity becoming available," the statement said.
"Regrettably, this means customers will not be able to recycle their household soft plastic at our stores until collections are able to recommence or an alternative solution can be found.
"We are currently working through a range of options with the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, and the recycling industry to support the future of soft plastic recycling."
A Coles spokesperson said sustainability was as important to the supermarket "as it is to our customers and partners".
"Coles has been advised that due to industry-wide challenges with soft plastic recycling, all REDcycle soft plastic collections from stores will be paused until further notice," the spokesperson said.
"This means we will be unable to accept soft plastic recycling returns in Coles stores and through Coles Online at this time.
"We are committed to our Together to Zero waste ambition and are working with government, industry and sustainability partners to find a long-term solution for soft plastics recycling in Australia."
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