The results of Circular Plastics Illawarra's survey are in.
People are eager to recycle soft plastics and willing to try anything, the community action group learned in its recent survey of 223 people.
Dr Helen Lewis, the convenor of Circular Plastics Illawarra, said the survey showed "intense frustration" at the lack of local ways to recycle soft plastics.
“Consistent messages in the written feedback were that residents feel frustrated by the lack of action, are keen to participate in any available recycling solution, and something needs to be done now," Helen said.
"Many people are storing soft plastics while waiting for a recycling option.”
Since the collapse of REDcycle in late 2022, most household soft plastics have ended up in landfill. This includes a host of everyday items such as bread bags, cling film, lolly wrappers, chip packets, salad mix packets and frozen produce bags.
Helen reported that the group's survey found that 83% of residents are putting soft plastics in their red landfill bins, while 17% are storing them at home, hoping for a future solution.
Typically made of mixed materials, including petrochemicals, soft plastics are hard to separate and recycle. Helen said they are not currently accepted in kerbside recycling bins nor at any council recycling depots in the Illawarra, but the group is advocating for change.
After the local government elections on 14 September, Circular Plastics Illawarra is calling on the new Wollongong City Council to prioritise soft plastics in its Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy.
The Circular Plastics survey found that making soft plastic recycling easy and accessible was important to respondents, with 65% preferring retail drop-off points, 49% wanting to be able to put soft plastics in their yellow bins, and 44% wanting council collection points.
The group strongly supports Wollongong City Council’s plans to investigate options for soft plastic collection via its domestic recycling service. Helen said there is excellent leadership in neighbouring Wingecarribee Council, which is running a 12-month trial in collaboration with RecycleSmart. Soft plastics are collected from residents at their Community Recycling Centre in Mossvale.
In August, Shellharbour Council decided to run a 12-month soft plastics recycling trial, with the details yet to be confirmed.
Working with councils, recyclers and community organisations, Circular Plastics Illawarra aims to reduce and reuse or recycle to create a circular local economy for plastics. Its first focus is to find a fix for the soft plastics problem, be it via kerbside, retail drop-off, council drop-off or a combination of all three.
To find out more, visit www.circularplasticsillawarra.
There is still time to have your say via their survey.
