AUSTRALIA | The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation to establish a voluntary, industry-led scheme to collect and recycle soft plastic packaging from consumers.
The scheme will be run by Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA) and aimed to increase the collection and recycling of soft plastic packaging from consumers, such as shopping bags and food wrappers.
Initial members of the scheme are Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Nestlé, Mars and McCormick Foods.
“It is clear that many Australians are concerned about the environmental impacts of soft plastic packaging and want to recycle it,” said ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh.
The ACCC has previously authorised the major supermarkets to engage in conduct as part of the Soft Plastics Taskforce to process the stockpile left over from REDcycle and to restart in-store collection pilots until July 2026.
“We believe the proposed scheme will result in an environmental benefit as it aims to take over and expand the current in-store collection and kerbside pilots for recycling soft plastic packaging, meaning some soft plastics are likely to be diverted from landfill,” added Keogh.
“While we know that soft plastic recycling has faced many challenges in Australia, we consider that the SPSA scheme is an important stepping stone to expanding collections and recycling.”
The ACCC considers that these public environmental benefits outweigh any potential detriment to competition that results from the collaboration through SPSA’s scheme.
The ACCC is proposing to grant authorisation for eight years and to include a reporting condition to ensure transparency of the performance of the scheme. An additional condition is proposed to ensure that there is no exclusive contracts with processors.
The ACCC has also granted interim authorisation to SPSA to allow it to engage in part of the conduct now including the sharing of operational information and data to allow for existing arrangements of the Soft Plastics Taskforce to be transferred to SPSA.
Submissions on the ACCC’s draft determination are due by 25 August 2025.
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