“Here’s the thing. Council can put these white bins for soft plastics recycling out in the community and they’re going to get support,” says Potato Point’s Michael Doyle.
In June this year, Eurobodalla Council trialled soft plastics recycling with a dedicated 240 litre bins at the Surf Beach, Moruya and Brou waste facilities. The community was receptive, delivering 1240 kilograms of soft plastics during the three months and proving its appetite for a permanent program since the suspension of REDcycle in 2022.
“Using REDcycle we would go to the supermarket to drop-off our soft plastics. We were so disappointed when it was shut down,” says Michael.
“With this new program we know where the soft plastic is going and how it will be processed and used.”
Council is partnering with Recycle Smart to deliver soft plastics from Eurobodalla to APR Plastics at Dandenong, Victoria, to be recycled into oil for plastics manufacturing. Gas generated during the process is also reused, fuelling the hybrid generator powering the recycling centre.
Michael wanted to give both the program and his community a boost – with a white 240 litre bin outside his Potato Point home now a local collection point, alongside a red-lid landfill and yellow-lid general recycling bin “so there is no reason to comingle different types of rubbish”.
“About a quarter of the village is on board from just one post to our Facebook community group. That was during the trial. Now it’s permanent, I’ll promote it a bit more,” says Michael.
“Council has provided another soft plastics recycling bin for the veranda of the Bodalla Post Office. Lisa from Repurposing for Resilience is kindly emptying them both, taking the contents to the tip for transfer to the recycling centre.”
Council’s acting manager of waste services Mel Norman says soft plastics should not go in general recycling.
“Things like bread bags, lolly packets, fresh and frozen produce bags, shopping, silver-lined chip bags and zip-lock bags don’t’ belong in the yellow-lid bin and now they don’t have to go in your red-lid general waste bin either,” says Ms Norman.
“The bins at the waste facilities – and now, thanks to volunteers like Michael and Lisa, some local villages – mean residents can divert more plastic from landfill confident they will be recycled. Since the program became permanent, we’re sending at least 400 kilograms of soft plastics for recycling each month.”
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