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Australia's two major supermarkets are moving to take responsibility for massive stockpiles of soft plastics, following the collapse of recycling company REDcycle.
Key points:
- Coles and Woolworths have offered to take on storage of thousands of tonnes of soft plastic
- The supermarkets would not be able to recycle the plastic, instead offering to store it safely until recycling resumes
- Much of the plastic may still end up in landfill if it has been degraded or a solution cannot be found
The scheme was paused in November after REDcycle announced it could no longer afford to recycle the plastic it was collecting from the supermarkets.
The announcement followed media revelations of massive plastic stockpiles in and around Melbourne.
Victoria's environmental watchdog charged the company in December, alleging 3,000 tonnes of soft plastic were found across nine sites.
The collapse of the business and the pause on the scheme meant most Australians were left without a way to recycle soft plastic.
Coles and Woolworths confirmed late on Thursday the supermarket giants had "made an offer to REDcycle to take control of its stockpiled soft plastic and provide safe storage of the material while recycling solutions are explored".
"The retailers' ability to access and manage the stockpiles will require the cooperation of REDcycle, as the recycling company currently maintains control of the material and its storage arrangements across numerous locations," the companies said in a statement.
The company was yet to respond to the supermarkets' offer, they said in Thursday's statement.
On Friday, REDcycle chief executive Liz Kasell said in a statement that "we welcome the supportive and collaborative approach by the Coles and Woolworths".
If the plan went ahead, it would prevent the stockpiled plastic from being sent straight to landfill.
But it would not mean there was an ultimate solution for the recycling of the products.
Even before the issues with REDcycle, Australia's recycling sector was in crisis — with the production of new plastics far outstripping the demand for recycled materials.
"The bigger problem in Australia is that we focus a lot on collecting and sorting materials, and often sending overseas most of those materials to actually be recycled," said Jennifer Macklin, from Monash University's Sustainable Development Institute.
"In Australia, we don't have a lot of infrastructure and capacity to do the recycling here on-shore."
Monash University's Ms Macklin told ABC Radio Melbourne plastic was more complex than many people realised.
"Most of our soft plastic blends multiple types [of plastic] together," she said.
"So they are actually really problematic, under our current system, to recycle."
Ms Macklin and other experts have said the solution to the crisis would come from producing and buying less plastic.
Minister 'hopeful' recycling can resume
Coles, Woolworths and ALDI formed part of a government Soft Plastics Taskforce in November.
The taskforce is set to release a roadmap in the coming weeks.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had earlier hinted the government would intervene if the supermarkets did not take on responsibility for the plastics.
In a video posted to social media after the Coles and Woolworths announcement, Ms Plibersek said she was "really hopeful that the supermarkets will soon be able to announce when we're likely to start a re-starting of the collection of soft plastics".
If the supermarkets take over responsibility for the stockpiles, they would come up with an interim strategy such as safely storing the plastic until recycling can resume.
Their statement cautioned they would need to assess whether the stockpiled materials were still suitable for reprocessing.
Degraded plastic may eventually be sent to landfill.