Council will soon start trial
Peninsula residents will be able to recycle soft plastics locally once again, after Northern Beaches Council agreed to trial drop-off locations across the area.
Council is negotiating with Plastic Forests, an Australian manufacturer of recycled plastic products based in Albury, to ‘establish a small-scale soft plastic collection and reprocessing trial’.
Drop-off locations will be advised once Council has finalised its contract with the preferred supplier, with two other companies earmarked should negotiations with Plastic Forests not proceed.
The move follows suspension of the nationwide REDcycle soft plastics recycling program last November, when thousands of stockpiled tonnes of soft plastics were found in Victorian warehouses which had not been recycled.
Mayor Michael Regan said the ‘best thing’ residents could do was avoid soft plastics, also known as ‘scrunchable plastics,’ which are commonly used
in consumer product packaging like bread bags.
“But avoiding them altogether is almost impossible,” he said. “We have spent years investigating the collection and recycling of soft plastics and exploring possible options for schemes and programs that will help facilitate recycling within our community.
“There are real challenges facing soft plastics recycling, but we want to help find long-term solutions and alternatives.”
Council will also continue to monitor the market and look at opportunities for larger-scale collections and recycling, should funding and markets for recycled soft plastics be available.
Mosman, North Sydney, and Willoughby councils have already signed up with NSW waste management company RecycleSmart to collect soft plastics from resident drop-off points.
RecycleSmart works with Australian recycler APR Plastics in Victoria to turn soft plastics into food grade plastic packaging.
The Northern Beaches trial will conclude in June, with a report expected at the August council meeting.
