Hobart City Council begins 12-month trial to recycle soft plastics at McRobies Gully tip
Soft plastics are a problem across the world and now the Hobart City Council has launched a trial to enable locals to recycle the environmentally harmful materials. HOW TO TAKE PART >>>
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A 12-month trial to recycle soft plastics has begun in Hobart with Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds describing the initiative as a “crucial step towards reducing waste”.
The collection point will be the waste transfer station at McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre at South Hobart.
Soft plastics are any plastics that can be crunched into a ball, including biscuit packaging, bread bags, bubble wrap, cereal box liners, chocolate wrappers, cling wrap, document sleeves, fresh produce bags, frozen food bags, pasta/noodle packets, plastic film, plastic sachets, post satchels, rice bags, silver lined chip bags, squeeze pouches, plastic bags, snaplock bags, and reusable shopping bags.
The council has partnered with RecycleSmart to collect the soft plastics which will then be transported to one of their vetted recyclers interstate, where they will be turned back into a plastic derived oil for new products or transformed into asphalt additive.
Ms Reynolds said the trial was exclusively for residential soft plastics and there would be no cost to the community.
“Our recent waste audit revealed that six per cent of material found in the red-lid general waste bin is soft plastics suitable for recycling,” she said.
“This initiative is a crucial step towards reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices in our community.
“Our goal is to develop our waste services to collect and recycle more soft plastics from our community.”
Environment Tasmania chair Philip Cocker hailed the move.
“It’s good to see leadership on recycling like this,” he said.
The council says soft plastics should be rinsed clean with all labels and staples removed.
They can be placed in a clear plastic bag or loose in the collection bin.
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Originally published as Hobart City Council begins 12-month trial to recycle soft plastics at McRobies Gully tip
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