Melbourne-based recycling organisation REDcycle has announced it will temporarily cease its soft plastics collection program.
The company, which works with major supermarket chains including Coles and Woolworths, said on Wednesday that the program has been paused due to “ “unforeseen challenges”.
“Consumer recycling of soft plastic has grown exponentially in recent years, with a 350 per cent increase in plastic returned since 2019,” the company stated on its website.
“However, due to several unforeseen challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, REDcycle’s recycling partners have temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics. This combination has put untenable pressure on the REDcycle business model.”
The company, which was founded by Liz Kasell 10 years ago and has diverted 5.4 billion pieces of soft plastic entering landfill and natural environments, said it can’t confirm the length of the pause, but was working with stakeholders “on solutions for the short-term pipeline imbalance.”
Gayle Sloan, CEO of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association Australia (WMRR), said the association was deeply saddened that the company has had to cease operating.
“The reality is that Liz saw clearly that something needed to be done to address the challenge of soft plastics. She made this her personal cause and put all of herself into this challenge for the benefit of the planet and the environment.
“However, the truth is that soft plastics are not Liz’s problem to solve. It is all of ours. The only way that the challenge of soft plastics will be solved is to avoid them or for those that make them, to take them,” Sloan said.
“The commercial reality is that the only way we will overcome the lack of processing capacity in Australia is for the generators that use the material to require this material back, to invest directly in facilities that will accept and remanufacture it and then use it again and again.
“We really need to stop focusing simply on collecting material and start focusing on creating demand for these materials. We operate in a complex system that does not stop at the bin, we need the whole value chain to create demand and participate in solving.”
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