Soft plastic bins to return to supermarkets
The supermarket says the renewed program has collected and processed about 40 million pieces of soft plastic since 2024.
- Woolworths is expanding its soft-plastics recycling program to more than 700 stores across five states, marking the return of collection points more than three years after the Australia-wide REDcycle scheme collapsed.
- The privately run REDcycle scheme halted in November 2022 after more than 12,000 tonnes of plastic were discovered stockpiled across NSW, Victoria, and South Australia. Retailers involved claimed ignorance of the storage practices.
- Since 2024, the renewed program has processed about 40 million pieces of soft plastic. "We have made it easier for Aussie families to recycle," Woolworths says.
- Collaborating with recycling companies saveBOARD, iQRenew, and Plascrete, the program repurposes collected plastic into in-store wall panelling and Woolworths-brand bread bags following a February 2024 trial in five Victoria stores.
- Industry figures estimate more than 500,000 tonnes of soft plastic packaging is used annually by manufacturers, with very little recycled, illustrating the scale of challenge that store-based initiatives address.
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Popular program set to return to major supermarkets
Consumers will be able to recycle their soft plastics at major supermarkets with a new national scheme back in place.The previous soft plastics recycling scheme run by REDcycle collapsed almost four years ago, leaving behind a stockpile in warehouses.After a successful trial, a new scheme will see plastic recycling bins placed in more than 700 Woolworths stores nationally.READ MORE: Major bank's bleak warning of more rate pain in matter of week…
Inside FMCG
insideretail.com.auWoolworths reinstates soft plastics collection
Woolworths has reinstated its soft plastics collection points in more than 700 Woolworths stores across five states. Since the first trial of the renewed soft plastics recycling program across five Victorian Woolworths stores in 2024, hundreds of collection points have been installed. Partnering with Australian-based recycling companies, including SaveBoard, IQRenew, and Plascrete, Woolworths will convert the collected plastics into building ma…
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