The City of Hobart is rolling out a new soft plastics collection point at the McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre as part of a 12-month trial.
The initiative is designed to reignite community involvement in soft plastics recycling, following recent challenges across the sector nationwide.
The council has partnered with RecycleSmart, the same company working with Clarence City Council, to manage collection and processing of materials.
Once collected, the soft plastics will be sent interstate to RecycleSmart’s approved recyclers, where they’ll be turned into plastic-derived oil for new products or used as an additive in asphalt.
“Our recent waste audit revealed that 6% of material found in the red-lid general waste bin is soft plastics suitable for recycling,” Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said.
“This initiative is a crucial step towards reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices in our community.”
The collection point, located at the Waste Transfer Station in McRobies Gully, will accept a wide range of soft plastics, including biscuit packaging, bread bags, bubble wrap, cereal box liners, chocolate wrappers, cling wrap, plastic bags and other scrunchable plastics.
“This trial is exclusively for residential soft plastics and will be offered at no cost to the community,” Reynolds said.
Soft plastics recycling has faced major setbacks nationally since the collapse of REDcycle in late 2022.
“We are eager to see how the community responds to this initiative,” said Reynolds.
“Our goal is to develop our waste services to collect and recycle more soft plastics from our community.”
