Every tonne of soft plastic stockpiled since REDcycle collapsed in 2022 has now been processed. New capacity has nearly tripled what REDcycle ever managed. So why does the system still feel broken?
The comeback, in numbers
REDcycle processed around 8,000 tonnes of soft plastic a year at its peak. Current facilities handle more than 20,000 tonnes annually, with the largest site on the NSW Mid North Coast processing 14,000 tonnes a year and upgrading toward 24,000. Over 700 collection points now operate across the country, reaching about 70 per cent of Australians.
The problem has flipped
Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia co-CEO Barry Cosier put it plainly: "Our biggest constraint at the moment is collecting enough material for all these facilities. So, we now have the opposite issue of REDcycle." A recent survey found 81 per cent of Australians want soft plastics recycling to exist, yet actual participation and awareness remain low.
The bigger picture
Australians got through 4 million tonnes of plastic and packaging in 2023-24, up 100,000 tonnes on the year before, while the national plastic recovery rate sits at just 14 per cent. RMIT's Usha Iyer-Raniga's point cuts to the core of it: "You can't just rely on recycling. You want to be a society where eventually, you don't want to create waste."
Read the full story from ABC News, 19 June 2026.
Related reading: What Happens to Your Empty Bathroom Plastic? and One Swap at a Time: A 4-Week Plan to Go Plastic-Free in the Bathroom.
A recycling scheme with more capacity than rubbish to fill it is still a recycling scheme, home compostable packaging just skips the queue entirely.