REDcycle soft plastic paused

Consumer recycling of soft plastic has grown exponentially in recent years, with a 300% increase in plastic returned since 2019. However, due to several unforeseen challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, REDcycle’s recycling partners have temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics.

This combination has put pressure on the REDcycle business model and REDcycle has made the decision to stop its soft plastics collection program from 9 November 2022.

Coles is committed to our Together to Zero waste ambition and we are working with government, industry and our sustainability partners to find an alternative sustainable solution.

Due to industry-wide challenges with soft plastics recycling, REDcycle has advised that all REDcycle soft plastic collections will stop from the 9th of November 2022 until further notice. This means we will stop accepting soft plastic recycling returns in Coles stores and through Coles Online until an alternative arrangement can be put in place.

As we work towards finding an alternative sustainable solution to recycling soft-plastics, customers are encouraged to put their soft plastics in their home rubbish bin. Please do not put it in your home kerbside recycling bin as it is not recyclable in this system.

Please be aware when selecting products with soft plastic packaging which contain recycling guidance that at this time these are unable to be returned to store for recycling and there may not be processing facilities available to recycle them.

Coles is committed to our Together to Zero waste ambition and we are working with government, industry and our sustainability partners to find an alternative solution. We will keep our customers updated on the progress and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause in the meantime.