Sofia Martinez
Soft plastics are one of the most challenging materials to recycle. They are often contaminated with food residue and made from various plastics that are difficult to process. However, they can be recycled, and many countries are working on solutions to improve soft plastics recycling. For example, in Australia, REDcycle collects soft plastics from supermarkets, and some local councils offer soft plastic recycling facilities or home collection services. In the UK, residents can recycle soft plastics at their local supermarket. To recycle soft plastics, ensure they are clean, empty, and dry before dropping them into the correct recycling bins.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Soft plastics include | Plastic bags, chip packets, biscuit wrappers, garbage bags, salad mix packets, plastic films, wrapping, bread bags, frozen food bags, crisp packets, pet food pouches, loo roll wrap, chocolate wrappers, polyethylene-based plastics, etc. |
| How to collect soft plastics | Keep them clean, empty, and dry. Drop them off at your local supermarket or local council drop-off points. Some councils offer home collection services. |
| What happens to soft plastics after collection | They are processed and turned into tiny plastic pellets. These pellets can be used to make synthetic lumber for decking or park benches, or they can be recycled into another film, pouch, or bag form. |
| How to use less soft plastic | Use reusable shopping bags, buy loose fruits and vegetables, use beeswax wrap, buy products without plastic wrappings, buy food items like grains and pasta from bulk food stores, etc. |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
Identify soft plastics
Soft plastics are commonly used in packaging and can be identified by their ability to be scrunched up. They include biscuit wrappers, plastic bags, garbage bags, chip packets, and salad mix packets. Bread bags, grocery bags, bubble wrap, and various plastic wrappers of food items are also made of soft plastic. Soft plastics can be made entirely out of one kind of plastic or can be layered with different kinds of plastics and other materials like aluminium or cardboard.
Soft plastics cannot be recycled in kerbside bins and must be separated from other recyclables. They can be recycled at dedicated soft plastic recycling bins, often found in supermarkets. Before dropping off soft plastics for recycling, ensure they are clean, dry, and free from food remnants.
Some examples of soft plastics that can be recycled include:
- Plastic bags
- Bread bags
- Frozen food bags
- Crisp packets
- Pet food pouches
- Chocolate wrappers
- Biscuit bags
- Chip packets
It is important to note that degradable, compostable, or biodegradable bags are not accepted for soft plastics recycling as they may start to degrade before they can be processed.
The Ultimate Guide to Caring for Plastic Lenses
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Clean and dry plastics
Soft plastics are one of the most difficult materials to recycle. They are frequently contaminated with food and often made from different types of plastics that are not easily processed.
To recycle soft plastics, it is important to ensure they are clean and dry. This will ensure the plastics are in the best possible condition for recycling. Start by ensuring that any plastic bags or wrappers are empty and free of food residue and moisture. Then, rinse the plastic with warm water to eliminate any residue or oil-based substances. You can skip this step if you are recycling cardboard or paper.
Next, fill the plastic with water and use a circular swishing motion to loosen any food debris or carbonation foam. Again, this step is not necessary for cardboard and paper. Shake, pat dry, or air dry the plastic after rinsing. A few droplets of water are acceptable, but it is important to ensure the plastic is mostly dry.
Finally, keep your cleaned plastics together and take them in bulk to your nearest recycling point, often found at supermarkets. It is important to keep the plastics as clean and dry as possible until they are recycled.
Plastic Flower Pots: Good or Bad for Plants?
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Find drop-off points
Finding drop-off points for soft plastic recycling is a straightforward process. Begin by checking with your local council, as some offer soft plastic recycling facilities. For instance, in Australia, Randwick City Council provides such facilities. Additionally, some councils have partnered with companies like Recycle Smart and Curby to provide free or subsidised pick-up services for soft plastics.
If your local council doesn't offer these services, you can locate drop-off points at supermarkets and stores. In Australia, Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi supermarkets previously partnered with REDcycle, allowing shoppers to drop off soft plastics at special bins in their outlets. Although REDcycle is currently paused, Coles and Woolworths are still accepting soft plastics as part of a more limited collection scheme. Similarly, in the UK, major supermarkets have joined forces to collect soft plastics, with more than 4000 drop-off points available.
To find your nearest supermarket drop-off point, you can utilise online tools like Recycling Locator or simply visit the website of the supermarket chain. For instance, in Australia, you can visit the Redcycle website, enter your suburb, and locate nearby drop-off points, which are often located at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.
Remember, before dropping off your soft plastics, ensure they are clean, empty, and dry to maintain their best possible condition for recycling.
Plastic Processing: An Industry Overview
You may want to see also
Explore related products
$13.99 $14.99
Local council schemes
Local councils are facing increasing pressure to implement soft plastic recycling schemes to reduce plastic waste ending up in landfills. Soft plastics include plastic bags, wrappers, and packaging that can be scrunched into a ball. While some soft plastics can be recycled at supermarkets, local authority waste management teams are now offering kerbside collection for soft plastics.
In the UK, early adopters of soft plastic collection schemes include The Co-Op and Tesco, which introduced collection points across their store networks in 2021. Guildford Borough Council, Surrey Heath Borough Council, and Tandridge District Council have also included flexible plastic in their kerbside recycling collections. However, other councils in Surrey do not offer this service yet.
New Zealand is currently trialling industry-funded kerbside collections of soft plastics. The Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme allows New Zealanders to recycle soft plastic bags and wrappers at supermarkets and other stores. Residents are instructed to collect clean, empty, and dry soft plastic packaging and drop them into the designated soft plastics recycling bins, which are usually green and white.
In Australia, some councils in New South Wales offer the Curby soft plastics scheme, where residents can arrange to have soft plastics collected from their homes using a dedicated app. The Greater Dandenong Council in Victoria also accepts soft plastics at drop-off points. These soft plastics are processed into liquid form and used as raw materials to produce plastic products or fuels.
Brain Plasticity: Learning and Adapting Over Time
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Reduce soft plastic use
Soft plastics are one of the most difficult materials to recycle. They are frequently contaminated with food and are made from different types of plastics that are not easily processed. They can be recycled, but the system is complex.
Refuse single-use plastics
Make it a habit to refuse single-use plastics! Request “no straw” when at a restaurant. Let a restaurant know you don’t need a plastic bag, plastic utensils, or condiment packets with your takeout. Refuse plastic beverage bottles, cling wrap, sandwich bags, and coffee cups (they are plastic-coated and not recyclable). If that is the only container option, ask for your food to be packed in aluminum foil or use your own reusable container.
Reduce plastic use
Buy products with little to no packaging. Buy bulk foods, liquids, and cleaners using your own refillable containers. Stop using plastic produce bags and use reusable cloth bags or no bag at all. Swap out your shower gel for soap bars sold without wrappers. When you have the option, choose products in non-plastic packaging (e.g. go for the glass jar of honey, not the squeezable plastic bear).
Reuse plastic items
Make a zero-waste to-go kit so that you can more easily avoid single-use plastics. Reuse or repurpose items such as toys, clamshell containers, water bottles, and containers to prevent plastic waste.
Recycle plastic waste
When you can’t avoid packaging, look for alternatives to plastic that can be reused and infinitely recycled. Glass jars and bottles can be recycled without a loss of quality. Aluminum cans and foil are also good options. When possible, purchase products made from recycled plastic materials.
Akro-Mils Plastic: Resisting the Fishing Worm
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Soft plastics include biscuit wrappers, plastic bags, garbage bags, chip packets, and salad mix packets. Essentially, anything that acts as a bag around food is a soft plastic.
Ensure that the soft plastics are clean and dry before dropping them off at a recycling bin.
In Australia, Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi were partners of REDcycle, which collected soft plastics from 2000 supermarkets across Australia. However, the program was paused in 2022 due to increased collection volumes and reduced recycling capacity. Now, a more limited collection scheme is operating in over 120 stores across Melbourne, Sydney, and regional New South Wales. Some local councils also offer soft plastic recycling facilities or collection from homes.
In the UK, soft plastics can be recycled at more than 4000 supermarkets.
In New Zealand, soft plastics can be dropped into the Soft Plastics Recycling bins at supermarkets and other stores.
You can also check online for your nearest drop-off point.
After collection, soft plastics are typically baled and sold to independent companies. They are then processed into tiny plastic pellets, which can be used to create new products such as synthetic lumber for decking or park benches, or recycled into other forms such as films, pouches, or bags.
