{"id":657361,"date":"2026-05-08T08:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/657361\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T08:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:52:09","slug":"major-soft-plastic-recycling-program-relaunched-by-woolworths-at-hundreds-of-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/657361\/","title":{"rendered":"Major soft-plastic recycling program relaunched by Woolworths at hundreds of stores"},"content":{"rendered":"

Woolworths has switched soft\u2011plastic recycling back on at scale, with drop\u2011off bins now in 700 supermarkets across five states after a years\u2011long hiatus.<\/p>\n

The expansion follows a February 2024 pilot in five Victorian stores and extends to selected South Australian locations this week.<\/p>\n

Shoppers have applauded the move online, calling it \u201cbrilliant\u201d and \u201cabout time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Since the trial began, customers have returned an estimated 40 million pieces of soft plastic \u2013 roughly 310,000 kilograms \u2013 according to the retailer.<\/p>\n

Collected plastics are being turned into practical products, from wall panelling used in stores to packaging that includes recycled content, such as home\u2011brand bread bags now made with 30 per cent recycled material.<\/p>\n

MORE NEWS<\/p>\n

Reject Shop axed as takeover moves ahead<\/a><\/p>\n

Retail giant teeters on brink of collapse<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside Aus\u2019s most notorious former youth prison<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Woolworths has announced that soft plastic recycling bins are now active across 700 stores around the country. Source: Nine News<\/p>\n

The restart sits within a broader effort led by Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia, which includes brands such as Mars, Nestl\u00e9 and McCormick Foods, to rebuild local recycling pathways after previous schemes collapsed.<\/p>\n

Woolworths 360 managing director Rob McCartney said customers had been clear they wanted soft\u2011plastic recycling back, and the retailer was working with local partners to scale capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers have continued to advocate for soft plastic recycling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to partner with innovative recyclers such as iQRenew, which has opened a new facility in NSW that has the capacity to process 14,000 tonnes per year of soft plastics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile saveBOARD is transforming soft plastic waste into building materials that we are already using in 170 stores.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wrappers, water bottles, bags and soft packaging can all be recycled using these bins. Source: Nine News<\/p>\n

Experts caution that soft plastics present unique hurdles: unlike rigid plastics, films and wrappers usually withstand only one or two recycling cycles before degrading, limiting their use in the same form.<\/p>\n

Keeping the system viable demands careful sorting, strong quality control and continued investment in processing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Soft plastics make up an estimated 538,000 tonnes of Australia\u2019s annual plastic waste. Source: Nine News<\/p>\n

The stakes are significant.<\/p>\n

Soft plastics make up an estimated 538,000 tonnes of Australia\u2019s annual plastic waste, and without reliable recycling programs much of it ends up in landfill, undermining circular economy goals.<\/p>\n

A list of participating stores is available on Woolworths\u2019 website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Woolworths has switched soft\u2011plastic recycling back on at scale, with drop\u2011off bins now in 700 supermarkets across five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-657361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}