Soft plastic recycling

In early 2025, a public call was made for households in the Cities of Adelaide, Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield to register to participate in this program.

A limit was placed on the number of households that could register to participate.

All available spaces have now been filled and registrations have now closed.

If you are an existing registered participant in this program, you will have received your soft plastic recycling 'starter pack', which contains 20 specially printed orange bags.

Once you have your orange bags, you can start recycling your soft plastic in them by:

Step 1: Fill the supplied orange bag with clean, empty and dry soft scrunchable plastic.

Step 2: When the bag is full and tight like a basketball, firmly tie with a double knot and place in your yellow-lidded recycling bin for collection. This may be monthly or even longer, depending on when the bag is full.

Soft plastic can only be recycled in your yellow lidded recycling bin if contained within the supplied orange bag. Soft plastic should NEVER be placed loose in your recycling bin.

Soft plastic is 'scrunchable' plastic. Use the 'scrunch' test as a guide - soft plastic tends to stay scrunched in a ball whereas hard plastics go back to their shape or can't be scrunched.

We want all your clean, empty and dry soft plastic.

Yes please

• Biscuit wrappers (not trays)
• Bread bags (without the tag)
• Bubble wrap
• Cereal box liners
• Chip packets and other silver lined snack wrappers
• Chocolate and other confectionary wrappers/bags
• Citrus netting bags (any metal clips removed)
• Cling wrap/plastic film
• Condiment sachets
• Document sleeves, plastic mail satchels and carrier bags (labels removed if possible).
• Flexible polyfoam wrapping (note: this is different to polystyrene foam, which is a rigid plastic that is NOT ACCEPTED)
• Fresh and frozen food bags
• Ice cream and icy pole wrappers
• Mesh onion bags (any metal clips removed)
• Muesli bar wrappers
• Newspaper/magazine wrap
• Pasta, noodle and rice bags/packets
• Pet food bags
• Plastic bags
• Potting mix bags (clean)
• Produce bags
• Six-pack ring (soft flexible plastic)
• Soft plastic labelled HDPE, LDPE or PP
• Soft plastic numbers 2, 4 and 5All soft plastic items accepted in the REDcycle service, bearing the REDcycle logo or the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) – Return to Store/Store drop-off symbol, can go into the orange bag
• Snap lock/ Zip lock bags (cut off any hard plastic slides)
• Squeeze pouches and cat food pouches (hard plastic lid and spout removed and clean)
• Vacuum seal bags
• Wine/water bladders (hard plastic spout removed)

No thanks

• Balloons
• Biodegradable/degradable plastic
• Biscuit Trays
• Blister Packs
• Bottles/cans
• Bottle tops
• Bread tags
• Cellophane
• Clothing/linen
• Compostable plastics
• Desiccant sachets/moisture absorbers
• Elastic bands
• Face masks
• Fruit/berry punnets
• Food waste
• Fruit stickers
• Hard/rigid plastic
• Laminated paper
• Meat trays (foam and plastic)
• Paper and cardboard
• Plant based plastic, bio-plastic and bio-plastic blends
• Plastic bags with cloth, rope or ribbon handles
• Plastic containers
• Plastic lined paper
• Plastic packaging tape
• Plastic rope/twine
• Plastic straws
• Plastic takeaway containers
• Polystyrene (including polystyrene foam and rigid polystyrene containers)
• Rubber/latex gloves
• Silicon food storage bags
• Single portion rigid sauce packet
• Soft Plastic labelled PET, PVC, PS or nylon
• Soft plastic numbers 1, 3, 6 and 7
• Sticky/adhesive tape
• Toothpaste tubes (even if you cut the lids off first - these can only go in your waste bin)
• Tea and coffee bags

If you run out of orange bags, more are available to pick up from your Council Civic Centre.

No.

This program is fully funded by the soft plastic industry, through Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia.

Soft plastic packaging is provided with all sorts of products and most of it ends up in landfill. This program is collecting post-consumer soft plastic to be recycled through your kerbside recycling bin. This provides a 'second chance' for soft plastic, which is a long-lived material that is suitable to be recycled again and again.

To build a truly circular economy for soft plastic, we need to make it easy for people to recycle it after use and support the development of a new, advanced recycling industry for soft plastic here in Australia. As it develops, that industry will increase its capacity to take post-consumer soft plastic and turn it back into new packaging, ready for reuse.

It is also important to reduce your use of soft plastic, where practical alternatives exist. While not all soft plastic can be readily avoided, always ask yourself the question "Do I need this?" before making a purchase.

Your orange bags (filled with recyclable soft plastic) will be sorted at the Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority recycling centre. They will then be sent to a plastic processor for shredding, further sorting (by plastic type) and to be made into new plastic products.

This process helps reduce the need for virgin plastics, minimises waste sent to landfills for disposal, lowers emissions and cuts down on litter.

Loose soft plastic and bagged recyclable items can get tangled in recycling machinery, which is why we always ask our residents to not bag recyclable items normally.

The orange pilot bags are designed for easy identification. When filled and sealed correctly, the bags can be easily separated from other recyclable items and will not get caught in the machinery.

It’s very important to keep all other items in your yellow lidded recycling bin loose (not bagged) as you usually do.

Contact your Council to find out your options to upsize or request an additional yellow lidded recycling bin. Fees may apply.

Or you may prefer to drop your soft plastic at a Woolworths supermarket for recycling instead. More information, including a list of participating supermarkets, is available here.

Yes – you can keep filling the supplied orange bags and adding to your regular yellow lidded recycling bins until you use them all up.

When you run out of orange bags, more are available to pick up from your Council Civic Centre.

No - businesses are not eligible to participate.

At this stage, the program is focussed on helping households to recycle their soft plastic.

If you are not registered for our program, you can now recycle your soft plastic by taking it to one of over 40 Woolworths supermarkets across Adelaide.

No orange bags are required - just place your soft plastic into any plastic bag and drop it in the collection bag available near the checkouts.

More information on the Woolworths soft plastic recycling program, including a full list of participating supermarkets, is available online here.

The first phase of our soft plastic collection trial commenced in late 2022. It showed that the 'bag in bin' method of collecting soft plastic was well-received by residents and valued for its convenience and ease of use. A full report on the outcomes of the earlier trial is available online here: Phase 1 Trial results

Soft plastics with labels adhered to them are still acceptable in your orange bags for recycling.

No, these items cannot be recycled in your orange bags.

Soft plastic made from plant-based materials (e.g. sugar cane) and soft plastic blends that include plant-based material additives are not able to be recycled with the same processes as petroleum-based soft plastic. These bioplastics and bioplastic blends will be rejected as waste if placed in your orange bags for recycling.

No, toothpaste tubes are not recyclable in your orange bags (even if you cut the caps off first).

No. The soft plastic material collected for recycling in South Australia has never gone to Recycling Plastics Australia (RPA) for recycling. It currently goes to IQ Renew in New South Wales.

As a result, the decision by Recycling Plastics Australia to enter voluntary administration has no impact on our soft plastic recycling programs.

Please continue to recycle your soft plastic in your orange bags or by dropping it off at a participating Woolworths supermarket.

Please email any further questions to enquiries@cawra.sa.gov.au

Thank you for your interest in soft plastics recycling.