User:Oli.f28/RedCycle

The RedCycle or REDcycle program is an Australian soft plastic recycling program started in 2010 by the Red Group and stopped in 2022.

Recycling in Australia

RedCycle collapse

History:
Elizabeth Kasell, launched the company in 2010 after wondering why soft plastic could not go in the regular recycling bin. She discovered that, in Australia, traditional sorting machines used in plastic recycling facilities can't handle the soft plastic packaging properly and, as a result, soft plastics would either go to the landfill or be sent overseas.

She saw an opportunity for companies to recycle and reuse soft plastics to create new products by disposing and collecting them separately in the first place.

Kasell started implementing a program at her son's school and expanded to a few other primary schools after receiving a Grant from Sustainability Victoria. The program eventually grew to more than 600 collection points all over Australia.

Recycling partners:
Replas, a recycled plastics manufacturer based in Ballarat, partnered with RG Programs and Services (also known as RED Group ), to collect and recycle soft plastic packaging into bollards, decking, fencing, garden products and park benches and tables.

Close the Loop, a company based in Somerton Victoria, recycling plastic to create recycled asphalt additive for road infrastructure, also known as Tonerplas.

Plastic Forests, a company based in Albury, NSW, recycling plastic material to create various products including air conditioner mounting blocks and mini wheel stops.

Different types of soft plastic items
The easy way to figure out if the soft plastic could be recycled through the REDcycle program was to see if the item could be scrunched into a ball.
 * Bubble wrap
 * Cellophane
 * Ice cream wrappers
 * Mailing satchels
 * Pet food bags
 * Potting mix and compost bags
 * Produce stickers
 * Silver-lined snack wrappers (like chips or chocolate)
 * Squeeze pouches with lid on
 * Zip lock bags

Partners:
Red Group partnered with Coles, one of the two main supermarket chains in Australia and implemented soft plastic deposit facilities in their stores from 2011.

and Woolworths in 2015. (https://www.highpoint.com.au/recycling) And became the first and only Return-to-store soft plastic recycling program in Australia. (https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/cooperation-proposed-to-continue-on-soft-plastics-recycling-after-redcycle-liquidation#:~:text=On%209%20November%202022%20REDcycle,accepting%20and%20processing%20soft%20plastics.)

Arnott's, Birds Eye, Cadbury, George Weston Foods, Goodman Fielder, Kellogg’s, Kraft, McCain and SunRice joined early on

After successfully diverting more than 9 million soft plastic packagings from the landfill and reprocessed into new products during its first year in Melbourne's sites, the program expanded to 370 more Coles store locations around Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

In June 2020, Coles and REDcycle reached their 1 billionth soft plastic deposited in store.

Other 15 important companies became partners in 2014


 * AFGC - Australian Food and Grocery Council: an association representing the food and grocery supply industry.
 * Australian Packaging Covenant: not-for-profit organisation promoting sustainable packaging.
 * Amcor: a global packaging company.
 * Arnott’s: Australia's largest biscuit producer.
 * Bird’s Eye: international frozen food brand.
 * Cadbury subsidiary of Kraft: confectionary brand.
 * Coles: large Australian retailer.
 * George Weston Foods: Australia and New Zealand's food manufacturer
 * Goodman Fielder: Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific food company.
 * Kellogg’s: multinational food manufacturing company.
 * Kimberly-Clark: multinational personal care corporation.
 * Huggies: company selling baby products, brand owned by Kimberly-Clark.
 * RED Group: Australian company funder of the REDcycle program.
 * Replas: Australian recycled plastics manufacturer.
 * SunRice: Australian rice brand.

https://rollspackgroup.com/rollspackredcyclepartnership/

GladWrap partner https://insidefmcg.com.au/2020/01/16/glad-partners-with-redcycle-to-recycle-gladwrap/

Bonds underwear https://www.bonds.com.au/blog/ship-it-good-new-sustainable-packaging.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20140124092909/http://redgroup.net.au/

https://web.archive.org/web/20230224014653/https://redcycle.net.au/partners/ All partners in 2023

Collapse:
In November 2022, it was discovered that instead of being recycled the soft plastics were stockpiled in several storages across New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria causing an environmental and fire risk.

[https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/10/more-stockpiles-of-soft-plastics-from-failed-redcycle-recycling-scheme-uncovered#:~:text=The%20program%20was%20wound%20up,soft%20plastics%20without%20our%20knowledge”. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/10/more-stockpiles-of-soft-plastics-from-failed-redcycle-recycling-scheme-uncovered#:~:text=The%20program%20was%20wound%20up,soft%20plastics%20without%20our%20knowledge”.]

All dates https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/incidents/soft-plastics-storage

Replas, one of the three recycling partners, said they were not aware of the stockpiling issue lead by REDcycle and discovered it at the same time as the general public.

RG Programs and Services Pty Ltd, the company that led the RedCycle program, was declared insolvent after not being able to pay the storage fees of the thousands of tonnes of plastics stockpiles all over Australia.

Elisabeth Kasell explains that the pandemic increased the amount of soft plastic used and it was hard to keep up with all the material received while having little recycling solution with partners. https://www.insidewaste.com.au/85359-2-liz-kasell/

https://www.packagingnews.com.au/latest/opinion-redcycle-s-liz-kasell-speaks-out

TerraCycle Wooldworth containers program https://thefifthestate.com.au/waste/terracycles-new-programs-with-woolies-include-containers-you-can-give-back-to-be-washed-and-re-used/