Shire-wide soft plastic recycling pilot

Council launched an innovative kerbside soft plastic recycling collection trial in Romsey on 7 November 2022 to support the community to reduce waste and recycle more. 

2,246 kerbside properties in Romsey were selected to recycle their soft plastic by collecting it separately in a Council-supplied orange collection bag and placing it in the recycling bin (yellow lid) on collection day.

Residents and businesses received an information pack which included a letter and 10 orange collection bags to use during the trial period.

Soft plastic collected in the trial is sent to a specialist processor in Victoria to make new plastic products locally, creating a circular economy.

The 12-month trial is part of a national trial for a stewardship program led by the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC) and funded by the Australian Government.

Due to the trial's success we are able to extend this program to the whole shire.

Residents and businesses who use Council’s kerbside collection service can recycle their soft plastic by collecting it in the Council-supplied orange collection bag and, when full like a basketball, place it in their recycling bin (yellow lid).

Residents and businesses not on Council's kerbside collection service can recycle their soft plastic at their nearest Resource Recovery Facility.

Residents can collect their pack, which includes a letter and 20 collection bags, from:

• Customer service centres
• Resource recovery facilities
• Kyneton Toyota Sports & Aquatic Centre
• Gisborne Aquatic Centre

Households in the Macedon Ranges Shire are eligible to collect one free pack of 20 bags. Subsequent packs will be sold at cost (refer to 'Need more orange bags' section below for prices). 

Alternatively, residents and business owners can continue to take excess soft plastic to Resource Recovery Facilities for free.

Step 1: Fill the orange bag with your soft plastic packaging and when it’s full like a basketball, tie it securely closed.

Step 2: When full, put the bag in your recycling bin (yellow lid).

Remember, only use Council-supplied orange bags for the soft plastic, it must be bagged, not loose.

Accepted items

Soft plastic packaging such as:

• biscuit wrappers (not trays)
• bread bags
• bubble wrap
• cereal packets
• chip packets and other silver-lined snack wrappers
• chocolate and other confectionary wrapprs/bags
• citrus netting bags (metal clips removed)
• cling wrap/plastic film
• condiment sachets
• document sleeves, plastic mail satchels and carrier bags (labels removed if possible)
• fresh and frozen food bags
• ice-cream and icy pole wrappers
• mesh onion bags (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)
• snap lock/zip lock bags 
• squeeze pouches (hard plastic lid and spout removed and clean)
• vacuum seal bags
• wine/water bladders (hard plastic spout removed)
• soft plastic labelled HDPE, LDPE or PP
• soft plastic numbers 2, 4 and 5
• any plastic that is soft and 'scrunchable', it should collapse easily in the palm of your hand and not bounce back to its original shape

All 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.

Unaccepted items

Do not include:

• balloons
• biodegradable/degradable plastic
• biscuit trays
• blister packs
• bottles/cans
• bottle tops
• bread tags
• cellophane
• clothing/linen
• compostable plastic
• 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
• 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
• rubber/latex gloves
• silicone food storage bags 
• single portion rigid sauce packet 
• sticky adhesive tape 
• toothpaste tubes
• tea and coffee bags
• soft plastic labelled PET, PVC, PS or nylon

We're estimating that it will take a four-person household around one month to fill their collection bag (remember it needs to be full like a basketball!). 20 collection bags should be enough for close to a year. 

If you run out of orange bags, they can be purchased from customer service centres at $4.80 per 25 bags. Alternatively, you can continue to take large and excess soft plastic to a local resource recovery facility for free. 

This is a pilot and we hope for it to continue well into the future. The price on extra bags is to make sure free packs are available to new participants and that bags are filled as fully as possible to reduce underweight bags.

The soft plastic collected in the pilot program is sent to specialist processors in Victoria to make new plastic products locally, which supports our objectives to reduce waste to landfill, emissions and litter.