Australia considers soft plastic recycling scheme to improve circularity

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a draft determination proposal to establish a “voluntary, industry-led” soft plastic packaging collection and recycling scheme.

The Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA) is expected to be in charge of the scheme, aiming to increase the collection of soft plastic packaging from consumers and its recycling. Soft plastic packaging includes shopping bags and food wrappers.

Initial members of the scheme are Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Nestlé, Mars, and McCormick Foods.

The ACCC tells Packaging Insights it aims to ensure SPSA remains accountable to public and environmental goals rather than just industry priorities: “We have proposed condition 2, requiring reporting of key metrics of the scheme. ACCC’s draft determination includes the proposed conditions.”

Discussing how the scheme will affect the economics of packaging choice for manufacturers, the ACCC says “the application contains details of the estimated cost of the scheme on participants. It is a voluntary scheme.”

Mick Keogh, deputy chair at the ACCC, adds: “It is clear that many Australians are concerned about the environmental impacts of soft plastic packaging and want to recycle it.” 

“The proposed scheme will result in an environmental benefit as it aims to take over and expand the current in-store collection and curbside pilots for recycling soft plastic packaging, meaning some soft plastics are likely to be diverted from landfill.”

Effects on competition

Initial members of the scheme are Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Nestlé, Mars, and McCormick Foods.The environmental benefits of the SPSA will outweigh “any potential detriment to competition,” according to the ACCC. 

The ACCC proposes to grant authorisation for eight years and include a reporting condition to ensure transparency of the scheme’s performance. An additional condition is proposed to ensure that there are no exclusive contracts with processors.

The commission has also granted interim authorisation to allow the SPSA to engage in part of the conduct, such as sharing operational information and data, to transfer existing arrangements of the previously existing Soft Plastics Taskforce to the SPSA.

Submissions concerning the ACCC’s draft determination are due on August 25.

Keogh says: “While we know that soft plastic recycling has faced many challenges in Australia, we consider that the SPSA scheme is an important stepping stone to expanding collections and recycling.”

Last month, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation announced it will not proceed with the introduction of its proposed EPR fee model in the 2027 fiscal year.