It's been two years since the collapse of the REDcycle supermarket scheme for recycling soft plastics. Now the volunteers at Circular Plastics Illawarra are ending the year on a happy note – the soft sound of scrunching bags at special drop-offs run by the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (ISJO).
Circular Plastics Illawarra chair Dr Helen Lewis helped out at the first event, which was held at Albion Oval car park in Shellharbour last month, describing it as "fantastic”.
“Most of the people coming in were people who'd been stockpiling at home ever since REDcycle stopped, or at least for a long time," Helen said.
"One guy came in with a ute with a huge sort of sausage bag of soft plastics.
“Another couple came in a little car and the whole back seat was chock-a-block full of bags with bags – and they just kept pulling them out from behind the seats, and on the seats, and in the boot.”
Locals show their enthusiasm
So far, more than 120 people have seized their first chance to recycle soft plastics locally since Coles and Woolworths removed the REDcycle bins in late 2022.
Collections have been held in Shellharbour and Kiama, and three more are coming to Wollongong after Christmas, with drop-offs at Berkeley's Fred Finch Park on December 27, Helensburgh's Rex Jackson Oval on the 28th and Corrimal's Ziems Park on the 30th.
Soft plastics include bread bags, chip packets, cling wrap, frozen food and pet food bags – basically, anything that can be scrunched into a ball – and the amount collected is staggering.
“In Shellharbour 57 people dropped off 18 240-litre bins’ worth, so 117 kilos – it was a lot,” Helen said.
In Kiama, people delivered about 184kg.
“I think what it shows is there were quite a lot of people that were just too keen – that got into the habit of recycling and they didn't want to stop,” Helen said.
“That response was without much promotion – it was mainly word of mouth.”
What's next for soft plastics?
ISJO, which represents the councils of Shellharbour, Kiama, Shoalhaven and Wollongong, can now pick from three places to send the waste, Helen said.
“There are three companies that are taking soft plastics right now. One of them is iQRenew up in Wyong, APR Plastics down in Melbourne and Close The Loop down in Melbourne. The preference is to send it to the New South Wales recycler.”
While the drop-offs are the highlight of 2024 for Circular Plastics Illawarra, the volunteers have also been quiet achievers on several other fronts.
Their mailing list has doubled to more than 100 over the past 12 months, a survey on soft plastics gathered 250 responses and a meeting at the University of Wollongong in May attracted about 70 people, including council staff, the NSW Environment Protection Authority and the Australian Food & Grocery Council. In October at Corrimal Beach, volunteers picked up rubbish as part of the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AusMAP), a citizen science effort to record pollution around the country.
“That was educational and fun, had a few people bring along their kids, so I think we'll repeat that next year,” Helen said.
In 2025, Helen is also looking forward to Corrimal Rotary's GreenFest in March and more engagement with council staff and councillors.
“We'll certainly be advocating for more permanent solutions for recycling soft plastics, just to keep that momentum up.”
Members enjoyed Nowra outing
More excursions could be on the cards after a popular trip in 2023 to Nowra.
"It's incredible what they're doing at their resource recovery centres,” Helen said. “It was the first commercial MICROfactorie using the UNSW technology developed by Veena Sahajwalla.”
Celebrated as one of Australia’s most innovative engineers, and widely recognised as a judge from the ABC’s The New Inventors, Professor Sahajwalla is the director of the UNSW Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology, which partnered with Shoalhaven City Council to build a ‘waste to product’ MICROfactorie at the West Nowra Recycling Precinct.
"It's small-scale recycling. They've been processing not just soft plastics, but also old uniforms – polyester type uniforms – and making them into tiles,” Helen said. “They're doing a lot down there. It's really innovative.”
United by a common purpose
Circular Plastics Illawarra remains an informal group, with no plans to incorporate and become an association. It has about eight core members who regularly attend meetings; designer Suzanne Haddon helped build their website and UOW marketing student Lily Gillard set up their social media.
Helen is a consultant who has worked for many years in plastics, packaging and product stewardship schemes at state and federal levels. She's found that volunteering locally has inspired fresh hope.
“I actually think a lot of things can be moved along at a local level, just because I suppose it's more hands on, more visible," she said.
“I am becoming a bit more optimistic about how even an informal project like this can help move things along through advocacy or trialling different things.
“It has given me that hope – and I'm just dealing with lots of really nice, interesting, passionate people, which is always good.”
Soft Plastics Drop-Off Dates
As part of ISJO's 12-month trial, clean, empty, and dry soft plastics can be recycled at the following drop-offs:
Wollongong
Friday, 27 Dec 7.30am-12pm – Fred Finch Park, Berkeley
Saturday, 28 Dec 7.30am-12pm – Rex Jackson Oval, Helensburgh
Monday, 30 Dec 7.30am-12pm – Ziems Park, Corrimal
Shellharbour
Sunday, 23 Feb 9am-3pm – Albion Oval carpark, Ash Ave, Albion Park Rail
Kiama
Wednesday, 12 Feb 8am-4pm – Minnamurra Waste Facility
Shoalhaven
Wednesday, 12 Feb 8am-4pm – Ulladulla recycling & waste depot
Wednesday, 12 Feb 8am-4pm – West Nowra recycling & waste depot
For updates, check the ISJO website