By Helen Lewis of Circular Plastics Illawarra
Circular Plastics Illawarra is a community alliance that was formed in early 2023 following the collapse of the REDcycle recycling program for soft plastics. Our initial focus is on soft (‘scrunchable’) plastics, but our vision is for a circular economy for plastics in the Illawarra in which problem plastics have been eliminated and all plastic packaging is reduced and either reused or recycled.
Soft plastics recycling pilot
Over the past few months our volunteers have supported the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (ISJO) and its four member councils – Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven – to run events across the region to collect soft plastics for recycling. It was a pilot project to help councils evaluate the feasibility of an ongoing program.
Despite limited promotion the community responded with enthusiasm and turned up in large numbers. More than 280 people attended the Helensburgh drop-off in late December, contributing to Wollongong’s grand total – 814kg in soft plastics, enough to fill over 100 wheelie bins. Many people mentioned that they had been stockpiling plastics since the collapse of REDcycle as they couldn’t bear to put them in the bin, and they were just hoping that a solution would be found. They were pleased to finally have an outlet and keen to know whether it would continue.
What happened to the collected plastics?
The plastics were transported to the Kiama Community Recycling Centre, where small amounts of contamination were removed before baling ready for transport. The total amount collected was around 2.5 tonnes, or 9 cubic metres of soft plastics diverted from landfill.
The plastics were transported to All Product Recycling in Minto, where it was shredded and densified, ready for recycling into a new product. The densified plastic was sent to Close the Loop’s factory in Melbourne, where it was manufactured into an asphalt additive called TonerPlas. This is a key ingredient for making high-performance asphalt roads that last longer and require less maintenance than traditional asphalt.
What happens next?
ISJO and its member councils are now evaluating the results of the pilot to determine next steps. Circular Plastics Illawarra is calling for our local councils to:
1. Incorporate a small proportion of TonerPlas into a local road. Recycling doesn’t happen until the material is remanufactured into something new, and local councils need to help ‘close the loop’.
2. Provide a permanent drop-off facility for soft plastics in the Community Recycling Centres, including at Whytes Gully
Many community members are continuing to collect, sort and clean their soft plastics for recycling because they care about the impacts of plastics in the environment and in landfill. This will provide an interim solution while a national stewardship program is being rolled out by a not-for-profit organisation called Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia.
Visit www.circularplasticsillawarra.org
About the writer
Dr Helen Lewis works as an environmental consultant and volunteers as convenor of Circular Plastics Illawarra, a network of passionate locals working to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics. She loves bushwalking, swimming and walking the neighbourhood with her Italian Greyhound looking for treats (the dog, that is).