AN UPDATE ON REDCYCLE

REDcycle was a soft plastics recycling program that was established in Australia in 2011 to provide a solution for recycling soft plastics that could not be recycled through regular council recycling programs.

The program involved partnering with major supermarkets and retailers to establish collection points for soft plastics at their stores, and then recycling them into new products such as outdoor furniture, decking, and signage.

Unfortunately, in early 2021, REDcycle announced that it was suspending its program due to disruptions in global recycling markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was initially paused for three months, but this was extended multiple times, and as of April 2023, it has not resumed. REDcycle has cited challenges with sourcing viable end markets for the recycled materials as the main reason for the suspension of the program.

All of Springhill Farm and boodles® shippers and shelf ready cartons can still be recycled through cardboard recycling waste streams in either commercial or household kerbside recycling.

Supermarkets are currently unable to provide the collection service previously offered through REDcycle and therefore any packaging showing the REDcycle logo, the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) showing the packaging as conditionally recyclable, or a logo showing ‘soft plastic recylcable’ is currently not recyclable. Unfortunately, like many others, this means our soft plastic wrap used on our slice and boodles® products is currently unable to be recycled. We apologise for any confusion this causes.

A very small number of councils are currently trialling soft plastic recycling through the council kerbside collection system. Contact your local council to find out whether your household currently has access to soft plastic recycling.

For more information see the REDcycle website.