iQRenew is supplying the recycled household soft-plastic material used to produce a satchel at the centre of a national circular clothing pilot by Australia Post and R.M.Williams.
The satchel is produced from 100 per cent Australian household soft plastics mechanically recycled by iQRenew, which also manages the end-of-life recycling of the mailer. The material is blown into film and converted and printed by RollsPack to create an Australia Post-branded mailer durable enough for the postal network. Australia Post says the satchel also functions as a “passport” to support tracking through the circular system.
During the pilot, R.M.Williams customers can purchase the satchel at checkout and use it to return end-of-life shirts and T-shirts from any brand. Returned satchels enter the Australia Post network and are delivered to REMONDIS Australia and BlockTexx for sorting and processing into new materials.
Jane Anderson, executive general manager community, sustainability & stakeholder engagement at Australia Post, said the pilot aims to make clothing recycling more accessible, describing the satchel as “made in Australia from 100 per cent recycled material and it will be recycled locally at the end of the process, helping to close the loop”.
Richard Pittard, chief sustainability officer at Australia Post, said the program is “all about learning”, and is intended to test “how we can co-create practical, scalable solutions to keep textiles in circulation and out of landfill”. He said it is “a first for Australia Post”, referring to the satchel being made locally from post-consumer recycled material.
Australia Post outlines the process as: customers buy the satchel with their order; pack eligible garments; drop it at a red street posting box, parcel locker or Post Office; after transport the satchel is opened and sorted; items are recycled into new materials; and those materials are then used to make new products.
The pilot is supported by a grant from the Seamless Circular Clothing Textiles Fund and delivered in partnership with R.M.Williams, REMONDIS Australia, BlockTexx and iQRenew. It addresses the more than 220,000 tonnes of textiles sent to landfill in Australia each year.
