Why Is Soft Plastic Only Recycled at Supermarkets and Other Special Places?

Musiclover on 04/03/2022 - 22:31

Quick searching on the internet showed that there is no easy way to recycle soft plastic.
Could someone confirm that council's recycling sorting centres are not able to handle soft plastic bags?..

Nowdays soft plastic bags started having "recycling" sign, but below that sign it often says "at store". Are the companies that get normal recycling from households not able to handle soft plastic? Does anyone know why is that?.. Since they are separating metal, cardboard and paper, hard plastics, glass, etc, could they not just add soft plastic to the list?

I understand that I could separate it creating a third type of garbage and do supermarkets runs with it, but it is a bit hard when there is not much space at the kitchen for the extra bin and little kids who try to handle the garbage at home.

Home & Garden

Comments

    • Musiclover on 04/03/2022 - 22:58
      -1

      Thanks, it is a "redcycle" centre, i.e. a third kind of garbage creation and the need to take it to the supermarket which I just described above, which I am trying to avoid.

      Are normal recycling centres still not able to take soft plastic?.. That's what I am trying to establish.

      • penguincat on 05/03/2022 - 02:17
        +6

        "Lightweight soft plastic bags cannot be recycled in the yellow lidded recycling bin. They often get caught up in the machinery at the materials recycling facility/materials recovery facility (MRF) and mix with other materials in turn contaminating them." Is pretty much repeated on every council website.

        So no they need to go to dedicated locations not just what we have now can't magically handle them. Upgrades maybe but the costs involved make it not worth it.
        Home recycling would only exist if there was an added 3rd/4th bin just for soft plastics and no one wants to pay for that.
        So the cycle continues and nothing changes. shrugs

  • Savas on 05/03/2022 - 00:06
    -1

    probably because it's not real recycling.. to me it feels like an excuse for woolworths and coles to keep producing plastic. if the plastic is so recycable.. why did they ban single use bags.

    • Shleepy on 05/03/2022 - 01:10
      +3

      Not sure what real recycling looks like, but soft plastic can be put to good use. This is the program the OP is talking about…

      https://redcycle.net.au/where-does-the-plastic-go/

    • AustriaBargain on 05/03/2022 - 02:45

      If Woolworths are collecting millions of the same few kinds of bag every week then they probably can find a use for it. Shred them into course bits, wash them, find a use for those bits.

    • Haydos90 on 05/03/2022 - 06:19
      +2

      Reduce, reuse, recycle in that order

      Reducing the single use bags so people (ideally) reuse other bags then there's less that needs to be recycled.

    • trongy on 05/03/2022 - 08:57

      probably because it's not real recycling.

      The hard(er) plastics we put in the recycling bin are also not truly recycled. Food grade plastics are never made from recycled material.

      why did they ban single use bags

      Lightweight bags can be carried by the wind and dispersed more widely into the natural environment. Heavier plastic items are still problematic, but are easier to filter from our waterways. The other issue with the lightweight bags is that they were so cheap that there was no economic incentive to reduce their use.

  • apsilon on 05/03/2022 - 06:37
    +3

    There's a heap of stuff that can be recycled but the council recycling system won't accept, soft plastics is just one example. I'm sure the bottom line would be those items aren't profitable enough for the recyclers.

  • mskeggs on 05/03/2022 - 08:32
    +4

    The soft plastic collected at the supermarket often ends up in landfill.
    If somebody tosses a used coffee cup or other rubbish in the same bin the load is contaminated and dumped.
    Woolies isn’t paying staff to sort through any contaminated recycling.
    Source: Woolies workers.

  • bradl822 on 05/03/2022 - 08:37
    +2

    Exactly like you said I can only find supermarkets taking it.

    For companies and councils it comes down to cost, you can in metro areas often make money off cardboard recycling through visy however plastic is always a paid removal service and on the more expensive side.

    I think until more viable and cost effective options are introduced I doubt we will see change here. :-(

  • bobbified on 05/03/2022 - 11:19

    Supermarkets are corporations trying to make money. That recycling shit is just a response to the whole thing that people now demand about being socially responsible. If something like that satisfies people's conscience then spending a little here will just bring them more customer's and their money. In the back end, most of it probably gets mixed with general rubbish.

  • random12 on 05/03/2022 - 11:50
    -4

    Redcycle is a pretty silly idea.

    No one has the energy to take their recycling to the supermarket.

    I go to the supermarket to buy stuff to bring home, not to take shit there. Not a well thought out idea.

    • Crow K on 05/03/2022 - 14:29

      What, you buy a new set of envirobags every time you go to the supermarket?

      • random12 on 05/03/2022 - 16:44
        -1

        Bags are empty. I am not taking bags full of shit to the supermarket.

        • Crow K on 05/03/2022 - 21:19
          +4

          lolololol "yeah i remember to take bags to the shops but having something in a bag to drop off at the entrance before I get started, it's all too hard man, what kind of maniac has that sort of energy, the scheme isn't well thought-out" -an adult

          • random12 on 06/03/2022 - 01:28
            -1

            @Crow K: Oh yeah, I have nothing better to do than to look at all the shit that I buy, and if it has 'redcycle' on it I am going to put it aside and take it to the supermarket? Don't think so, it's all going in the recycling bin. There is no need for more than three bins (already have rubbish, recycle and green, and then we need another category, and you have to go out of your way to do it?).

            • apsilon on 06/03/2022 - 06:18
              +3

              @random12: You'd be better off putting it in general rubbish if you're not going to recycle it. Putting it in recycling they're likely to declare the load contaminated and send the lot to landfill anyway. It certainly won't get recycled.

              • random12 on 06/03/2022 - 12:19
                -4

                @apsilon: Good, that's not my problem.

                The idiots want people to recycle, then they complain when they do.

                Just do it all at once. It gets collected by the local councils. If these redcycle want to do something, do it during the council collections.

                • buckster on 06/03/2022 - 12:25
                  +3

                  @random12: Pretty pathetic attitude really.

                  Just put your soft plastic in the rubbish as said, instead of stuffing other people's recycling up

                  • random12 on 06/03/2022 - 12:54
                    -1

                    @buckster: Tell me why there different types of plastic and they can't all go through the same process?

                    And if they can't go through the same process, why doesn't the council separate and do it? I

    • apsilon on 05/03/2022 - 15:03
      +1

      I take a bag every week. Occasionally I take used batteries to drop off as well. It takes virtually zero effort.

      • random12 on 06/03/2022 - 12:20
        -1

        OK, you are probably 1 out of 100.

        Now tell me why it should not all happen through the council collection process?

        • apsilon on 06/03/2022 - 13:49

          More like 99 out of 100 given the collection point is almost always full despite being bundled up several times a day. It should happen through council collection but the recyclers aren't set up for it. Those recyclers aren't doing it for the good of the planet, they're in it to make a profit like all businesses. That's why they pick and choose what they accept and why other programs like Redcycle have appeared to fill the gap. By contaminating council recycling the council then has to pay for it be dumped as landfill and of course when council pays the reality is rate payers are the ones actually paying.

  • Musiclover on 05/03/2022 - 12:11

    Some years ago before they cancelled the free plastic bags in supermarkets I thought what a hypocricy - they were preaching about ecology but at the same time giving out those plastic bags in thousands of tons.

  • rektrading on 05/03/2022 - 12:21

    Recycling HDPE bags are unprofitable and not worth the trouble.

    Recycling stuff only makes sense if there is money to be made.

    Use them as bin liners.

  • Ayami109 on 07/03/2022 - 22:50

    You can hear from the founder of Redcycle here. She started the program at her kid's primary school and it ballooned from there.

    https://www.packagingnews.com.au/video-and-podcasts/podcast/…

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