ACCC grants interim authorisation for soft plastics recycling solution

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has proposed a conditional 12-month period to allow major supermarkets to continue collaborating on a short-term solution to manage the soft plastics stockpile and facilitate the resumption of in-store collections for recycling.

A public consultation process on the draft determination is set to begin shortly.

In November 2022, following the collapse of the REDcycle program, the ACCC granted conditional interim authorisation to Coles, Woolworths and ALDI for their Soft Plastics Taskforce. The supermarkets, through the taskforce, released a Roadmap to Restart plan which outlines their work to date and a roadmap over the next 12 months to manage the stockpile and resume collections.

The REDcycle program was the only return-to-store, soft plastics recovery program in Australia, facilitating the collection and processing of soft plastics into a variety of durable recycled plastic products.

Product manufacturers and major supermarkets partnered with REDcycle to run the program. REDcycle provided some initial processing and then delivered the materials to its partner recycling facilities to process the soft plastics into new recycled plastic products, or otherwise utilise the recovered materials.

The scheme had been running in nearly 2000 supermarket outlets across the country, with collection points in Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, and in ALDI stores from July 2022.

ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said the REDcycle liquidation has provoked concern among communities. The proposed authorisation will allow the supermarkets to address these concerns as well as the environmental risk of soft plastics.

According to Keogh, the ACCC believes the authorisation will have public benefits, including developing interim solutions jointly funded by supermarkets, diverting soft plastics from landfill, and ensuring consistent messaging to consumers on the resumption of in-store collections.

“Given our proposed authorisation is for 12 months, the supermarkets would need to apply for authorisation for any longer-term solutions,” Keogh said.

The ACCC may grant an authorisation to any conduct that could raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act when it is satisfied that public benefit from the conduct outweighs public detriment.

“We are proposing to grant authorisation with conditions to ensure there is continued transparency on the progress of the roadmap and that the public are kept up to date,” Keogh said.

The interim authorisation will remain in place until it is revoked, the application for it is withdrawn or the date of the ACCC’s final determination comes into effect.

“Separate to this authorisation application, the ACCC continues to engage with industry stakeholders and representative bodies to ensure clarity and transparency in communications so as to minimise the risk of consumers being misled by representations on packaging about the recycling of soft plastics,” Keogh said.

More information is available on the ACCC’s public registers.

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