Coles has recorded a 32 per cent increase in soft plastic recycling during the 2019 financial year, or the equivalent of the earth's circumference.
Coles chief property and export officer Thinus Keeve said the increase showed how significant reducing waste had become for consumers. “We know that recycling is important to our customers, and we are seeing many people changing their habits to reduce waste that ends up in landfill,” Keeve said.
Soft plastics -- including packaging such as biscuit packets, lolly bags, frozen food bags and bread, rice and pasta bags – cannot be recycled through most kerbside recycling services. Last year Coles became the first major supermarket to roll out REDcycle bins in all its stores.
In FY19, customers recycled 905 tonnes or 226 million pieces of soft plastics. Keeve said: “Since we partnered with REDcycle in 2011, our customers have recycled enough pieces of plastic to go around the world five times which is just fantastic. We want to become Australia’s most sustainable retailer, so we are looking at ways to divert even more waste from landfill and reduce packaging.”
The soft plastic collected in REDcycle bins at Coles supermarkets is used as a raw material by Australian manufacturers, Replas and Plastic Forests. It is converted into a range of uses, including playground benches, garden edging, wheel stops, walkways in parks, bollards and the customer seats used in Coles supermarkets. REDcycle has also partnered with Close the Loop and Downer EDI to provide soft plastic for road base.
RED Group Director of Development Elizabeth Kasell is proud consumers have jumped on board to support soft-plastic recycling. “This is helping retailers, distributors and manufacturers work together for a better outcome for materials that were previously going to landfill,” Kasell said.
