Soft plastics and packaging waste

Supermarket soft plastics recycling on hold

• The REDcycle soft plastics collection program is paused and soft plastics are not being collected for recycling.
• Soft plastics, including plastic bags and plastic wrappers, are not recyclable in the yellow bin.
• Please put soft plastics in your general waste bin. We can't collect soft plastics on behalf of residents.

Like our community, we're disappointed to hear the REDcycle soft plastics collection has been paused.

Council has supported the REDcycle soft plastics program through community education and purchasing recycled plastic products from Victorian recycling partners — such as recycled plastic equipment in parks and seating at GESAC.

A soft plastics taskforce, which includes Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are seeking a short-term solution for soft plastics to launch in late 2023. With their large number of supermarkets and previous support of REDcycle, this may provide more viable collection point options. 

For the latest updates on the program, visit the REDcycle website. 

What is Council doing to reduce soft plastic waste going to landfill?

• We are continuing to investigate opportunities to support our community avoid waste and improve reuse and recycling as we transition to a circular economy.
• We are advocating on behalf of our community for State Government to invest in appropriate recycling infrastructure and systems that keep resources circulating in the community, including soft plastic materials.
• We are communicating with other councils and industry partners about this challenge. Many councils are currently looking for long-term solutions. Councils currently providing a collection point are only able to accept material from residents within their own municipality due to safe storage capacity limits of soft plastics. 
• We will keep our community up-to-date with any changes to soft plastics recycling. 

Council has contacted and visited Advanced Plastic Recycling (APR), the main soft plastic processor in Victoria which can accept and process soft plastics in Dandenong South. There is potential room available for Glen Eira’s soft plastics, however, the main challenge remains the lack of a viable soft plastics collection points in Glen Eira as we do not have a transfer station. 

We are continuing to research viable soft plastic collection service options capable of accommodating Glen Eira’s needs. 

Reducing waste from the start

The pause in soft plastics recycling has also been an important reminder about reducing the amount of disposable, single-use packaging made and used in our community.

Reducing waste from the start is a key part of moving to a circular economy and away from the current ‘take-make-waste’ way of doing things where materials are made into products we eventually throw away as waste.

Council recently endorsed the first Glen Eira Circular Economy Plan 2022-2026, which sets out how we’ll lead by example to manage resources more sustainably, support our community and advocate for broader change.

What can you do to reduce waste and manage soft plastics?

There are small actions you can take that make a big difference to household waste.

• Avoid — try to avoid packaging by using reusables or choosing unpackaged options. Check out your local fruit and vegetable store, farmers markets, delis and bulk food stores for unpackaged items and refill stations. There are many stores in Glen Eira that are happy for customers to bring and use their own clean containers.
• Reduce and recycle — if you can't avoid packaging, look for alternatives with less wrapping and recyclable options (eg. aluminium, glass, tin, cardboard and hard plastic containers). Check what items can go in your yellow and green bins and keep this in mind.
• Ask for change — have your say and advocate for sustainable changes. Let brands and companies know if you would like to see their packaging change. For example, you may like to see less packaging, more recycled and recyclable materials or reusable, refillable options.

Try these sustainable swaps

What should you do with soft plastics?

We understand that it's difficult to avoid all soft plastics and sometimes there are limited accessible alternatives. Thanks for doing your best to reduce waste wherever you can. For the soft plastics you do end up with:

• Please put soft plastics in your general waste bin for disposal.
• Please do not put soft plastics in the recycling bin. Soft plastics, plastic bags and wrappers are not recyclable in the yellow recycling bin and can get caught in recycling machinery.

We will keep you updated with any changes to soft plastics recycling.

FAQs