Coles and Woolworths ordered to dump kilotonnes of soft plastics once destined for recycling
More than three Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of soft plastics once destined for recycling will likely end up in landfill due to fire risk, in fallout from failed recycling plan REDcycle.
Coles and Woolworths have been ordered by the NSW Environment Protection Authority to remove more than three Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of soft plastic waste that was collected under the auspices of a failed recycling program.
More than 5200 tonnes of waste will likely be dumped into landfill, and the EPA says the operation is necessary due to high fire risk in storage sites scattered across 11 unspecified NSW local government areas.
“The extent of soft plastic waste sitting in warehouses across NSW is very concerning and I know customers will be disappointed,” NSW EPA chief Tony Chappel said. “To protect our communities and environment, these materials need to be removed to reduce risk of a fire.”
The supermarket juggernauts were blindsided late last year when Australia’s only soft plastics recycler, REDcycle, was accused of not recycling soft plastic waste collected at bins placed in supermarkets across the country.
The Australian revealed in November that REDcycle had secretly dumped more than 260 tonnes of collected plastic into landfill while more was stored to be processed at a later date.
It came amid broader reporting about the failures of the alleged recycling scheme.
The REDcycle program was promptly suspended and drew the attention of federal and state regulators.
Mr Chappel said it was the supermarkets’ responsibility to address the waste stockpiled in 15 different sites across the state, because the supermarkets “widely” promoted the REDcycle scheme to customers.
“As we transition to a circular and net-zero economy, supermarkets have a responsibility to customers and the environment to address plastic packaging and take positive actions that contribute to solutions rather than the problem,” he added.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek also laid responsibility for solving the issue at the feet of the supermarkets.
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