We’re too soft on soft plastics

Soft plastics include plastic shopping bags, bread bags and pasta bags. There are no longer collection points for soft plastics in Burnside. Previously, soft plastics were collected by the REDcycle program in Coles and Woolworths stores. Some Foodland stores also offered a collection service. But these services have been cancelled. Why? Because there was not enough demand for the recycled plastic – there was nowhere for it to go.

While soft plastic recycling had some good outcomes, there were also concerns about the recycling systems.

On average, the soft plastic recycling programs dealt with less than one percent of the plastic consumed by Australians each year.

We use too much plastic, especially packaging. Soft plastic recycling allowed manufacturers to promote their packaging as ‘recyclable’, making consumers feel better about buying their products. But most of that plastic was not recycled and there was never the capacity to recycle it all.

Soft plastic was sometimes added to asphalt or concrete. While these uses did give the plastic an extra life, it was downcycling, which means some value of the material was lost. Recycling systems should try to maintain the value of materials, like recycling glass back into glass, allowing the process to be ongoing. Downcycling loses value and degrades materials, limiting their future usage.

The removal of soft plastic recycling will concentrate efforts on reducing plastic waste, rather than pretending we can deal with the waste. We can all play a part. Buy products with less packaging (eg buy in bulk), or products with compostable packaging. Many supermarkets now have compostable bags for fruit and vegetables.

We can advocate for manufacturers, state and federal governments to reduce the use of unnecessary plastic. The South Australian government has banned some soft plastics (see www.replacethewaste.sa.gov.au). The federal government could legislate that all soft plastic packaging must include some recycled materials, creating an instant market for the soft plastic in circulation. The UK Government took another approach, introducing a tax on plastic packaging with included less than 30 per cent recycled materials.

The issues with soft plastics can all be solved by working together for positive outcomes.

We can still put rigid plastics in the yellow bin. Rigid plastics include things like margarine and strawberry punnets. They are recycled and turned back into containers and other plastic products. If you need assistance identifying materials for recycling, call the Which Bin helpline, 1300 137 118, or visit the website: www.whichbin.sa.gov.au