Soft Plastics Recycling Pilot

The trial phase is now complete, and the results were positive: 

• Residents liked the convenience of the ‘bag in bin’ method to collect their soft plastics 

• The bags held up well (nearly all of them arrived at the recycling facility intact) 

• The brightly coloured bags were easily seen and pulled out by recycling workers 

• The quality of soft plastics received was good (suitable for recycling). 

You can read a report about how it went.

Residents of the City of Adelaide with a yellow recycling bin serviced by the City of Adelaide are eligible for the pilot.

The Soft Plastics Recycling Pilot is no longer taking new registrations.

Yes, but only if you have registered to be in the pilot phase. Soft plastics can only be recycled if placed in the special orange bags. If you have left over yellow Curby bags you can continue to use these until they run out.   

Soft plastics placed loose in recycling bins (or not in the custom printed bags) cannot be recycled. 

If you do not have the custom-printed bags, please place your soft plastics in your red waste bin.  

Soft plastics placed loose in recycling bins (or not in the special orange bags) cannot be recycled.

If you are not a participant in the pilot, please place your soft plastics in your red waste bin. They will go to landfill for disposal.

Contact [email protected] to request additional bags.

This program allows for 1 registration per eligible household. A starter pack containing 20 orange bags will be issued to each household following registration. Duplicate registrations at the same address will be deleted.

A limited number of additional (top-up) kits of 20 bags will be made available through the year if you run out, while stocks last.

The pilot program is available at no cost to participating households, thanks to an industry-led soft plastics stewardship scheme, the Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority, the Cities of Adelaide, Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield and the soft plastics recycling industry.

The pilot phase will allow all partners to learn about the collection, processing and costs associated with recycling soft plastics using our yellow-lidded recycling bins.

The orange bags (filled with recyclable soft plastics) will be sorted at the Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority (CAWRA) recycling centre. They will then be sent to a plastics processor for shredding, further sorting (by plastic type) and to be made into new plastic products.

This process helps reduce the need for virgin plastics, minimises waste sent to landfills for disposal, lowers emissions and cuts down on litter.

The former REDcycle store drop-off scheme is no longer in operation within South Australia.

Yes – just place these in your orange bags for recycling.

If the bag has a hard plastic slide on it, cut that off first before recycling the rest in your orange bag.