Australia’s soft plastics recyclers are seeking more material and greater industry participation in product stewardship, with IQ Renew reporting that its household soft plastics processing facility is operating only two days a week on a single shift.
Moderated by industry veteran and flexible packaging expert Joe Foster, the Australasian Institute of Packaging’s State of Industry webinar, held on 7 October, examined the future of soft plastics in Australia and New Zealand.
IQ Renew managing director Danial Gallagher said the company's SPEC facility for mechanical recycling of soft plastics could process around 14,000 tonnes a year, but received only approximately 100 tonnes in September.
During processing of legacy soft plastics stockpiles [from the REDCycle collapse], the facility had operated five days a week, 18 hours a day, handling between 900 and 1000 tonnes a month.
“We are screaming out for material so that we can utilise this piece of infrastructure that we now have here in Australia,” Gallagher said.
Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA) chief executive officer Barry Cosier said the scheme had completed its legal, governance and operational requirements, secured contracted recyclers and established a collection network reaching 70 per cent of the country. However, membership remained below the level needed to support its planned operations.
Cosier said SPSA had 37 members, representing approximately 10–15 per cent of the potential membership of soft plastic end users in Australia. He emphasised that SPSA needed to double membership to reach 30–40 per cent within eight weeks.
SPSA would write to industry participants in the coming weeks to establish whether they intended to support the scheme, inform forecasting and set the levy for the following year.
“It is absolutely pointless making your packaging, your flexible packaging, recyclable if there are no recyclers and they don’t survive,” Cosier said.
Gallagher said IQ Renew’s facility, north of Taree in NSW, sorts household soft plastics into material suitable for chemical and mechanical recycling. Its outputs are used in applications including film, bin caddies, fence posts and water pipes.
He said government grant funding secured late last year would support an increase in processing capability to 24,000 tonnes a year, but the existing infrastructure needed more feedstock.
Packaging applications demonstrate demand
Australia Post circular innovation partner Faina Kerr discussed the organisation's involvement in the development of a satchel made from 100 per cent Australian post-consumer recycled LDPE sourced from household soft plastics.
IQ Renew produced the recycled resin pellets, Signet manufactured the film in Brisbane, and a partner in Melbourne [RollsPack] completed printing and satchel production.
The mono-material satchel uses 65-micron film and weighs approximately 20 grams. Kerr said it matched the weight of an equivalent virgin-film satchel and passed through Australia Post’s lodgement, sorting and delivery network without special handling or reported bursts.
Developed for a clothing recovery program involving R.M. Williams, the satchel moved from concept to market in under 10 weeks. A QR declaration recorded its contents, while postal tracking recorded its movement through the network.
Kerr said the project demonstrated an end market for recovered household soft plastics, with further work focused on recovery pathways, data and traceability.
Policy certainty needed for investment
Viva Energy’s Vanessa Lenihan said the company had demonstrated processing of imported soft plastics pyrolysis oil at its Geelong refinery, including management of ISCC Plus certification through the supply chain to produce recycled polypropylene.
The trial involved approximately 10 tonnes of oil and packaging partners Nestlé, Taghleef and Amcor.
Viva Energy is also working with Cleanaway on a proposed pathway linking household collection, sorting and pre-treatment with pyrolysis and refinery processing.
Lenihan said feasibility work had been completed and two preferred technology suppliers identified. Subject to policy certainty, the project could operate by 2030, with an initial phase processing around 50,000 tonnes of soft plastics annually and a potential expansion to 100,000 tonnes.
She called for extended producer responsibility, mandatory packaging design standards and minimum recycled-content requirements to support investment and demand.
New Zealand develops processing options
The Packaging Forum’s soft plastics recycling scheme manager Lyn Mayes said New Zealand was developing domestic processing alongside additional outlets in Australia.
A container of New Zealand soft plastics had arrived in Sydney for processing by IQ Renew after an export approval process taking almost a year.
Mayes also outlined a Pact recycling trial at East Tamaki, involving 20 tonnes of soft plastics over three months, with recycled pellets used in products such as underground cable covers.
In Nelson, a kerbside trial involving 1000 households had collected more than two million pieces of soft plastic packaging. More than half of participating households had not previously used store drop-off collections, and 98 per cent wanted the trial to continue.
Mayes identified extended producer responsibility, better data on packaging placed on the market, and investment in domestic processing supported by demand for recycled products as priorities.
The situation for soft plastics In Australia needs urgent attention if the recycling industry is to remain feasible. The panellists pointed to the need to connect collection and processing capacity with demand for recycled materials, supported by industry funding and policy certainty. For Australian recyclers, the immediate call was for businesses to support SPSA and help increase the flow of household soft plastics into existing facilities.
