Not sure if that’s actually a word. War on Waste used it so it must be!
Will it pass the scrunch test? What I mean is……..can you scrunch it up!
There was a time when the supermarkets used to encourage shoppers to return their single use bags to them for recycling – then single use bags at the big chains disappeared (so did the collection bins).
Now there are new bins near the checkouts- the supermarkets are working in conjunction with a company who will also take your plastics (lots of different ones) The emphasis now is on all sorts of soft plastics – and here’s the buzzword…..soft scrunchable ones!
Redcycle takes just about any of them – they talk about the scrunch test Here.
Which means that all those plastic wrappers like the packet the frozen peas came in or the stuff the big bundles of toilet rolls were wrapped up in that were tossed into the general rubbish bin because they couldn’t go into council recycling now have a dedicated recycling destination.
On the website there’s a list of ‘what they’ll take‘ and also a long list of partner companies involved in the programme….not just the two major supermarkets but manufacturers as well.
So all of you in Australia ‘Use it or Lose it’
~ ~ ~ ~
RED Group, a Melbourne-based consulting and recycling organisation, has developed and implemented the REDcycle Program; a recovery initiative for post-consumer soft plastic.
RED Group has teamed up with Coles, Woolworths and some of Australia’s most-loved brands to make it easy for you to keep your plastic bags and soft plastic packaging out of landfill.
RED Group also would like to acknowledge the key role of our partners at Replas – http://www.replas.com.au/ – who produce a range of great products using the recycled materials.
As of 2018, a partnership with Downer and Close the Loop means that soft plastic is now also a component of a new municipal road infrastructure.
The REDcycle Program is true product stewardship model where manufacturers, retailers and consumers are sharing responsibility in creating a sustainable future.
Still Waters 
The government here announced that they would be taking action to reduce the use of plastic, causing something approaching panic in the hearts of shopkeepers…this is the land of the plastic bag…everything is bagged up from veg to, in some cases, a soft drink…in which case the bag is knotted round a straw…plastic, of course.
LikeLike
Good on you Australia. We’ve only got to the stage where we pay for supermarket bags and have a long way to go. The tons of plastic water bottles are the worst.
LikeLike
What a great idea. I will check our supermarkets next week.
Our recycling bin already gets more use than the rubbish one, and this would diminish it further.
Thank you.
LikeLike
that scrunchable system also faltered here across the ditch for a while, but 2 forward thinking companies have recently found ways to “remake something” I forget what…
LikeLike
That’s interesting. I wasn’t aware of the scheme and somehow I must have missed it on The War on Waste. In an apartment, it is hard to find space to store such things, but I guess we will manage.
LikeLike
I’d rather they stopped putting every. darned. thing. in plastic. the slogan is reduce, reuse, recycle.Recycle is at the end for a reason.
Having said all that, I don’t want to be the grumpy commenter and any action is better than nothing
LikeLike
Good for Australia! The U.S. needs to do a whole lot more to reduce plastic waste. I see the results of all that garbage washing up on Hawaiian shores.
LikeLike