Yellow bin rubbish changes in Australia

Soft plastics may soon be allowed in yellow lid recycling bins under sweeping changes which could come in after the collapse of the REDcycle programme.

Items like carrier bags and scrunchable plastic packaging have previously been banned from council recycling bins but that is now set to change.

RecycleSmart recently resurrected its own separate free soft plastics collection pick-ups from homes in certain council areas, including North Sydney.

Meanwhile, Australian recycling company Curby incorporates soft packaging into existing council recycling bin collections using specially-tagged yellow plastic bags.

They have trial schemes already underway where householders can collect soft packaging in bright yellow bags which can be placed in yellow recycling bins.

Soft plastics may soon be allowed in yellow lid recycling bins under sweeping changes which could come in after the collapse of the REDcycle programme

Soft plastics may soon be allowed in yellow lid recycling bins under sweeping changes which could come in after the collapse of the REDcycle programme

Soft plastics may soon be allowed in yellow lid recycling bins under sweeping changes which could come in after the collapse of the REDcycle programme

Items like carrier bags and scrunchable plastic packaging have previously been banned from council recycling bins but that is now set to change

Items like carrier bags and scrunchable plastic packaging have previously been banned from council recycling bins but that is now set to change

Items like carrier bags and scrunchable plastic packaging have previously been banned from council recycling bins but that is now set to change

The tagged bags can then be easily identified and removed during processing where they are redirected to specialist recycling plants which turn it into food-grade plastic.

Curby has previously operated the scheme on the NSW Central Coast, Tamworth and Newcastle council areas.

The National Plastic Recycling Scheme, developed by the Australian Food and Grocery Council, is now trialing the system in six council areas in Victoria and South Australia.

Around 10,000 households in Adelaide, Melbourne, Albury and the Macedon Ranges are now popping soft plastics in yellow  recycling bins.

It aims to fill the gap after the collapse of REDcycle, which collected soft plastics in Coles and Woolworths, until their overseas processors stopped taking Australian waste.

REDcycle crashed in November with huge stockpiles of fire-hazard plastics left abandoned at secret holding centres across the country. 

Now Tanya Barden, CEO of Australian Food and Grocery Council, hopes to revive soft plastic recycling and make it even easier for consumers.

‘We looked at return to store options but we need to make it convenient and cost effective,’ Ms Barden told news.com.au.

‘We’re building a whole new supply chain. It will gradually grow as capacity develops.’

They are currently working with Nestle to recycle the soft plastic, breaking it down into ‘plasticrude’ oil, to create new plastic wrappers for KitKat biscuits.

But the scheme is limited by the capacity of the current recycling plants before it can be rolled out across all of Australia’s 500-plus councils.

Even at REDcycle’s peak, it still only recycled an estimated two per cent of Australia’s soft plastic waste. 

‘There’s a huge amount of complexity involved in designing a collection scheme,’ said Ms Barden. ‘Now we have to scale this up and we have the industry behind us.

‘We’re building a whole new supply chain. It will gradually grow as capacity develops.’

The scheme It aims to fill the gap after the collapse of REDcycle, which collected soft plastics in Coles and Woolworths, until their overseas processors stopped taking Australian waste

The scheme It aims to fill the gap after the collapse of REDcycle, which collected soft plastics in Coles and Woolworths, until their overseas processors stopped taking Australian waste

The scheme It aims to fill the gap after the collapse of REDcycle, which collected soft plastics in Coles and Woolworths, until their overseas processors stopped taking Australian waste

Curby hopes to incorporate soft packaging into existing council recycling bin collections using special tagged yellow plastic bags

Curby hopes to incorporate soft packaging into existing council recycling bin collections using special tagged yellow plastic bags

Curby hopes to incorporate soft packaging into existing council recycling bin collections using special tagged yellow plastic bags

APR Plastics Managing Director Darren Thorpe said capturing soft plastics in sufficient volumes is essential for a domestic advanced recycling industry.

‘There is enormous demand for recycled food-grade plastics from manufacturers, not just here but around the world,’ Mr Thorpe said.

‘We have the technology to do that and these trials are shaping a scalable model that will enable the creation of a sustainable and efficient advanced recycling industry for soft plastics here in Australia.’

In the meantime, Nestle have now repackaged Smarties in paper instead of plastic, and Mars also relaunched its snack bars with paper wrapping which can go straight into recycling bins in a bid to cut down landfill waste.

The company claims the simple switch in Australia will save 360 tons of soft plastic – enough to stretch to London and back – from going to rubbish dumps each year.

HOW THE SCHEME WORKS… 

The NPRS collects soft plastic packaging, like bread and cereal bags, frozen vegetable packets, confectionery wrappers and plastic toilet paper wrap.

As an industry-backed scheme, food and grocery manufacturers pay a small levy to support the cost of collection and administration.

Collection is through an expanded kerbside collection program. Households receive specially produced kits containing special recycling bags produced and printed for the trial.

The bags are extracted from recycling streams at sorting facilities and sent for processing.

After being sorted, cleaned and shredded, separate soft plastic types are sent to advanced recycling facilities where high-tech processes break the plastic back down into the same type of oil that plastic is made from in the first place.

That ‘plasticrude’ oil is then ready to be made back into clean, food-grade plastic packaging.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk

You May Also Like

Chrissy Teigen and her children enjoy outing in Los Angeles after pregnancy announcement

Chrissy Teigen was spotted while spending time with her children, Luna and…

Orphaned polar bear cub spotted wandering alone on Alaskan oil field is moved to nearby zoo

An orphaned polar bear who was found wandering in the remote Prudhoe Bay…

Is Alexandria Herring Fired? Age, Parents, Ethnicity Husband & Net Worth In 2022

Alex is one half of The Try Guy’s food-tasting duo, The Food…

Craig Breen Wife: Was He Married? Family of Rally Driver Explored

Following the tragic death of rally driver Craig Breen due to a…