User:Oli.f28/RedCyclecollapse

The RedCycle or REDcycle program is an Australian soft plastic recycling program started in 2010 by the Red Group and collapsed in 2022 due to the illegal storing of soft plastics around Australia.

The program consisted in collecting soft plastic items through a return-to-store process where customers could bring their soft plastics and put them into dedicated recycling bins directly in their local stores. The soft plastics could then be reused by partnering companies and incorporated in different products.

History
REDcycle partnered with the two main supermarket chains in Australia, Coles from 2011, and Woolworths in 2015. (https://www.chirnsidepark.com.au/recycling

https://www.highpoint.com.au/recycling) And became the first Return-to-store soft plastic recycling program in Australia.

REDcycle representative explained the stockpiling by pointing out that three of the recycling facilities that previously accepted the collected soft plastics were no longer doing so since the pandemic of Covid-19.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/coles-woolworths-recycling-scheme-collapses-after-secret-stockpiles-revealed-20221107-p5bw9q.html

Timeline:
May 2022:

EPA issued an Improvement notice after inspecting Williamstown North REDcycle's site for being at environmental risk.

June 2022:

July 2022:

EPA Victoria, the local council and Fire Rescue Victoria found the site compliant with the Improvement notice and revoked it.

September 2022:

EPA issued a prohibition notice after finding inadequate management of environmental risk at the Williamstown north site. The notice ordered to stop receiving further soft plastics and find another way of storing the materials already on site. 12 days after, EPA Officers found the site to be compliant and revoked the notice.

November 2022:

On the 8th of November, the RED group announces it will suspend the soft plastics collection from the following day after it was discovered that the group was storing excess plastic into warehouses.

On the 9th of November 2022, a fire started in a production line of the recycling company Close the Loop in Somerton. It took 5 hours to be contained by the firefighters and closure of Hume Highway.

Following the previous discoveries, EPA issued information-gathering notices to gather further information on the precise locations and amount of soft plastics stored by REDCycle.

December 2022:

EPA officers inspected several new premises. The Williamstown North site was no longer the place where the program was operated by the organisation.

EPA issued a Prohibition Notice to premises in Tottenham ordering to stop receiving further soft plastics and find another way of storing the materials already on site

EPA issued Improvement notices to premises in Campbellfield, Truganina, West Footscray, a second one in Tottenham and confirmed another compliant site in Dandenong South.

RG Programs and Services Pty Ltd, responsible for the REDcycle program got charged by EPA Victoria for not complying with the Information Gathering Notice issued in November and may encounter a fine exceeding $165,000.

January 2023:

A new site was confirmed in Craigieburn.

February 2023:

Four new sites are confirmed in Craigieburn, Laverton, Truganina and Tullamarine. Making it a total of 14 sites storing soft plastics:

RG Programs and Services Pty Ltd, the company that led the RedCycle program,(https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/8030921/charges-laid-over-failed-recycling-program/) was declared insolvent on the 27th of February after not being able to pay the storage fees of the thousands of tonnes of plastics stockpiled all over Australia.
 * Campbellfield
 * Craigieburn (2 sites)
 * Dandenong South
 * Laverton
 * Tottenham (2 sites)
 * Truganina (2 sites)
 * Tullamarine (2 sites)
 * West Footscray
 * West Wodonga
 * Williamstown North

The company agreed to let Coles and Woolworths deal with the 12,400 tonnes of stockpiles stored in different sites.(https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/cooperation-proposed-to-continue-on-soft-plastics-recycling-after-redcycle-liquidation#:~:text=On%2027%20February%202023%2C%20REDcycle,and%20a%20liquidator%20was%20appointed.)

March 2023:

The Soft Plastics Taskforce, a group including ALDI, Coles and Woolworths under interim authorisation from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and chaired by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/au/en/media/latest-news/2023/soft-plastics-taskforce-lays-out-path-to--restore-soft-plastic-r.html released a Roadmap to Restart to find solutions to reinstate in-store soft plastic recycling for customers. https://www.aldiunpacked.com.au/storage/2023/03/Soft-Plastics-Taskforce-Roadmap-20230307.pdf

July 2023:

EPA Victoria withdrew the charges for non-compliance.

Next steps:
Critic

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/why-the-collapse-of-soft-plastics-recycler-redcycle-could-be-a-good-thing-for-the-environment/hw128d1bu