Approximately 40 of Australia’s largest brands are voluntarily supporting soft plastic recycling in Australia – this equates to over 15% of the soft plastics market.  The Australian Government has proposed packaging regulatory reforms including; packaging design standards, including the inclusion of recycled content and designing for packaging recyclability together with targeted collection and recycling rates. Governments at national and state levels are also incentivising companies to invest in building new sorting and recycling facilities for soft plastics. All of this is very positive, but more needs to be done.

Product stewardship schemes aim to address market failures through collective action to fund recycling solutions. In most schemes, producers pay a levy to a product stewardship scheme administrator which coordinates and funds the scheme to undertake collection, recycling, marketing and other activities.

SPSA engages a portfolio of recyclers to facilitate the production of a range of products from the collected plastics, including mechanical and chemical recycling options.  Advanced chemical recycling breaks plastic down into a virgin oil substitute that can be used to make food-grade soft plastic packaging, reducing the use of virgin materials, and creating a truly circular soft plastic supply chain. Other products from mechanical recycling include garbage bags, fence posts, asphalt, and concrete additives.

SPSA will continue to work with stakeholders to design a national program, and advocate for this policy.  Importantly, collections can only be expanded in line with recycling capacity and demand for the recycled products, which remains very limited in Australia. This is why it is essential to bring together industry and government to participate, and support the scheme.

There are now over 700 collection points across Australia, across five States and Territories. This provides soft plastics collection access to almost 70% of Australians. You can access the collection points list here: https://spsa.au/collection-locations/ 

Soft plastics are flexible plastics you can easily scrunch into a ball. They must be clean, empty, and completely dry before recycling. 

• Biscuit wrappers (no trays) 
• Bread bags (without ties/tags) 
• Bubble Wrap
• Cereal box liners 
• Chip packets and silver-lined snack wrappers 
• Chocolate and confectionery wrappers/bags 
• Cling wrap / plastic film 
• Fresh and frozen food bags (veggie, fruit, etc.)  
• Pasta, noodle, and rice bags/packets (including woven types) 
• Pet food bags (empty and clean) 
• Plastic bags and carrier bags 
• Produce bags 
• Snap lock / zip lock bags (no hard plastic parts) 
• Muesli bar wrappers 
• Newspaper and magazine wrap 
• Ice cream and icy pole wrappers 
• Potting mix bags (clean) 
• Vacuum seal bags 
• Wine/water bladders (hard plastic spout removed) 
• Six-pack rings (soft flexible plastic only) 
• Document sleeves, plastic mail satchels (labels removed if possible) 
• Soft plastics labelled HDPE, LDPE, or PP (recycling numbers 2, 4, or 5)
• All items previously accepted in the REDcycle program (with the REDcycle logo or Australasian Recycling Label “Return to Store” symbol) are welcome.

You cannot recycle the following:

• Rigid or hard plastics (bottles, containers, trays, takeaway packaging, punnets) 
• Biscuit trays or any rigid plastic packaging 
• Compostable, biodegradable, or degradable plastics 
• Plastics labelled PET, PVC, PS, or nylon (numbers 1, 3, 6, or 7) 
• Balloons, face masks, rubber/latex gloves 
• Food waste, dirty or wet plastics 
• Desiccant sachets, bread tags, bottle tops, straws 
• Polystyrene, meat trays, foam 
• Clothing, linen, elastic bands 
• Laminated paper, sticky tape, plastic packaging tape 
• Plant-based plastics, silicone bags, toothpaste tubes 
• Any items with food residue  
• If in doubt – place it in your general waste bin. Keeping contamination out ensures the highest quality recycled material for new products. 

Store Drop-Off (Nationwide): 

• Use the SPSA location tracker to find the nearest point. 
• Take your clean, dry soft plastics to participating supermarkets and stores. 

Kerbside Pilot Participants (Orange Bag Program): 

1. Fill your special orange bag with clean, dry, scrunchable soft plastics. 
2. When full, compress tightly (aim for ~1kg) and tie with a double knot (like a basketball). 
3. Place the securely knotted orange bag into your yellow recycling bin. 

Need more orange bags? Contact your local council.