Hobart Launches Soft Plastics Recycling

By Tasmanian Times

Posted on 14 May 2025

The Hobart Council will trial a new soft plastics collection point at the McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre.

This initiative is part of a 12-month trial aimed at “reigniting our community’s dedication to soft plastics recycling” the council says.

Soft plastics recycling has not been available generally in Australia since the Redcycle program collapsed in late 2022. Redcycle had collected soft plastics from major supermarkets, although towards the end of its existence it had simply been stockpiling the plastic waste in warehouses.

The City of Hobart has partnered with RecycleSmart – also engaged by Clarence Council – to collect the soft plastics from McRobies Gully.

Once collected, the material will be transported to one of RecycleSmart’s vetted recyclers interstate, where they will be turned back into a plastic derived oil for new products or transformed into asphalt additive.

Soft plastics are any plastics you can scrunch into a ball, including items such as biscuit packaging, bread bags, bubble wrap, cereal box liners, chocolate wrappers, cling wrap, document sleeves, fresh produce bags, frozen food bags, pasta/noodle packets, plastic film, plastic sachets, post satchels, rice bags, silver lined chip bags, squeeze pouches, plastic bags, snaplock bags and reusable shopping bags.

Hobart households can drop off soft plastics at the collection point located in the Waste Transfer Station.

Soft plastics should be rinsed clean with all labels and staples removed. They can be placed in a clear plastic bag or loose in the collection bin.

This initiative aligns with the council’s zero waste strategy for 2030 and the Climate Ready Hobart Strategy.

“Our recent waste audit revealed that 6% of material found in the red-lid general waste bin is soft plastics suitable for recycling,” said Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds.

“This initiative is a crucial step towards reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices in our community. This trial is exclusively for residential soft plastics and will be offered at no cost to the community.

“We are eager to see how the community responds to this initiative. Our goal is to develop our waste services to collect and recycle more soft plastics from our community.”

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

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