Soft plastics collection trial
Council is trialling a soft plastics drop-off event for householders.
During July, bag up your clean and dry soft plastic packaging.
In August, drop off your bags of soft plastics for free in the designated soft plastics collection bins during a three-day drop-off event near you.
The soft plastics collected from the drop-off event will be converted back into soft plastics and recycled road products, helping to drive a circular economy, divert materials from landfill and keep valuable resources in use.
Download a flyer with the information on this page(PDF, 57KB)
What are soft plastics?
Soft plastics are ‘flexible’ plastic packaging that can be easily scrunched in your hand, like bread bags, chip packets, bubble wrap, ziplock bags and more (see what's accepted below). These types of plastics are NOT accepted in your kerbside recycling bin.
What items will be accepted?
Soft plastic packaging is any ‘scrunchable’ plastic wrapper or film that can be easily scrunched in your hand.
These soft plastics can be collected as part of the trial:
- Biscuit wrappers (but not the clear tray that holds biscuits)
- Bread bags
- Bubble wrap
- Cereal box liners (the bag that holds the cereal)
- Citrus netting bags
- Cling wrap
- Confectionary bags and wrappers
- Document sleeves
- Fresh fruit and veggie bags
- Frozen food bags
- Magazine and newspaper wrapping
- Pasta and noodle packets
- Plastic food wrap e.g. cling wrap, glad wrap etc.
- Post satchels
- Plastic wrapping from paper towels and toilet paper
- Reusable ‘green’ shopping bags
- Plastic shopping bags (from retailers)
- Rice bags
- Silver-lined chip bags
- Squeeze pouches (clean and dry)
- String bags (the ones that hold oranges and onions)
- Study pet food bags (the ones with a zip-lock top)
- Wrappers from chocolate bars & lollies
- Zip lock bags
Plastic bags and packaging that have the following label can also be collected for this trial:
What items are NOT accepted?
These soft plastic items are NOT accepted:
- Biodegradable or compostable plastics
- Drinking straws
- Hard plastic containers e.g. biscuit trays, fruit punnet trays
- Laminated materials
- Balloons
- Adhesive tape
- Foil packaging
- Rubber gloves or rubber bands
- Tinsel
- Wine bladders (foil-based)
Where do I drop off my soft plastic packaging?
Bags of soft plastic packaging from householders will only be accepted at the collection points in early August. This is when collection bins will be in place and staff will be ready to accept your bags of soft plastics for recycling.
Soft plastic packaging (domestic quantities only) will be accepted over three days at each collection site:
Anglesea Transfer Station
- 9am to 4pm on Friday 2 August, Saturday, 3 August and Sunday 4 August
Lorne Transfer Station
- 9am to 12pm on Friday, 2 August
- 9am to 12pm on Saturday, 3 August
- 2pm to 5pm on Sunday, 4 August
Winchelsea Transfer Station
- 2pm to 4pm on Thursday, 1 August
- 1.30pm to 3.30pm on Saturday 3 August
- 9.30am to 12.30pm on Sunday, 4 August
Torquay residential waste and recycling drop off (130 Messmate Road, Torquay)
- 8am to 12pm on Thursday, 1 August
- 8am to 12pm on Saturday, 3 August
- 8am to 12pm on Sunday, 4 August
Soft plastic packaging should only be placed in the designated collection bins. To prevent litter, do not leave bags of soft plastics on, or next to the collection bins.
All collection points will be supervised and collection bins regularly emptied.
What will happen to the soft plastics collected during the trial?
The soft plastic packaging will be baled at the Anglesea Transfer Station. Council's soft plastics trial partner, RecycleSmart will collect the bales and deliver them to APR Plastics and Close the Loop for recycling at their Melbourne facilities.
The plastic packaging will be converted back into soft plastics and recycled road products. This will help drive a circular economy, diverting materials from landfill and keeping valuable resources in use.
Will any of the soft plastics collected be stockpiled?
No. By conducting a trial, Council can ensure our recycling partners are not overwhelmed. To ensure transparency, Council will be able to track the soft plastics using the RecycleSmart dashboard.
The trial is intended to run during July and early August only. At the end of the trial, results will be assessed to determine if a long-term soft plastics collection and recycling service is cost effective for our ratepayers.