Greencap Eco-News  |  Issue 13 |  November 2022

Changing behaviours around plastic waste

As part of Greencap's commitment to all things sustainable, we are pleased to send this regular communication where Greencap's own Eco-Sustainability Committee team members provide interesting facts, quick eco-tips, and recent environmental news.

This issue includes information on the sheer volume of plastic that ends up in our oceans, together with some helpful recycling tips to consider during National Recycling Week 2022.

Plastics and plastic waste have long been under environmental scrutiny but sadly the vast amount plastic that flows into the oceans every year is expected to nearly triple by 2040 to 29 million metric tons.

Currently the equivalent of two garbage trucks worth of plastic enters our oceans every minute, adding up to a staggering 8 million metric tons of plastic each year - enough trash to cover every coastline around the world with five full bags of plastic and this is compounding every year. This may be through 'system' leakage such as sewer overflows into creeks or individual lack of responsibility through inadvertent or deliberate littering.

There are five massive patches of plastic in the oceans around the world. These huge concentrations of plastic debris cover large swaths of the ocean. One patch in particular, known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” covers 20 million square kilometres of water. Animals have colonised these previously uninhabited areas, consuming the plastic waste and disrupting the natural marine ecosystem.

Below the surface, chances of disease on coral reefs (home to more than 7000 species of fishes, invertebrates, plants, sea turtles, birds, and marine mammals) have also increased 22-fold by the presence of plastic. A 2018 survey of the 159 coral reefs across Asia-Pacific region showed that over 11.1 billion plastic particles are entangling the corals, and this number is estimated to increase dramatically by 40% by 2025. Plastic debris may also cause physical damage to the corals by exhausting the resources for the wound-healing process. 

Closer to home, a quick stroll along your local dog-friendly beach will unfortunately also likely expose you to thousands of pieces of plastic waste, thanks in part to recent heavy rains across the country. Whilst council kerbside recycling programs and river traps do a good job of preventing bottles and larger items of recyclable waste making their way to the ocean, smaller soft plastics (such as chocolate bar and lolly wrappers) don’t typically get captured by this last line of defence to the sea.

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REDcycle program paused with immediate effect

Over the last decade Australian's have embraced the widely accessible REDcycle soft-plastic recycling program for post-consumer soft plastic with drop-off points at local supermarkets. Unfortunately as you may have have seen in the news this week, the REDcycle program has been 'paused' with immediate effect after reporting their recycling partners have temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics (largely thanks to  a significant fire at the recycling facility operated by its partner Close the Loop and a 350 % increase in plastic being returned since 2019).

This means for consumers (outside of the 4 NSW LGA's with the Curby program available in your area) soft-plastics are no longer widely recyclable and your options are currently  limited to stockpiling your home consumption in the garage etc until the recycling programs open up again, exploring other local options or placing it in the rubbish bin.

Jeff Angel from recycling advocacy group Boomerang Alliance said the suspension of the REDcycle scheme was a wake-up call for the soft plastics recycling sector and called for mandatory recycled content requirements for companies producing soft plastics to encourage them to reuse more material.

"REDcycle was never a permanent solution, it was always very voluntary both at a consumer level and getting producers to use it for recycled content"

"About 336,000 tonnes of soft plastics are used in Australia each year and only a very small percentage of that was being recycled."

- ABC Radio Melbourne

REDcycle are "hopeful the scheme could resume next year".

• Drop it off - Discover drop off locations where you can recycle tricky items such as mobile phones or printer cartridges. Recycling rules may also be different between councils. Discover where to recycle other materials on Planet Ark's Recycling Near You.
   

• Compost - Composting your food scraps can reduce the amount of materials in your household rubbish bin by up to 40%. Composting reduces greenhouse gas emissions released by rotting food in landfill and also produces nutrients for your garden.
   

• Keep recyclables out of bags - Otherwise recyclable materials won't be sorted correctly and will still end up in landfill. Paper and cardboard, aluminium, glass, plastic, and milk / juice cartons should all go in the recycling bin loose.
   

• Leave it out - Recyclables in plastic bags, soft plastics, food waste, crockery, nappies, clothes/fabric, polystyrene, CDs/DVDs, window/drink glass, batteries, mobile phones and e-waste don't belong in the bin. They cause contamination and end up in landfill.
   

• Buy better - Buy second hand, buy in bulk, buy products made from recycled materials. Discover what recycled products you can buy on Planet Ark's online at Recycled Products Directory

Source -  Planet Ark Recycling Guide

Each year upwards of 50 Greencap team members join hundreds of thousands of volunteers nationally to step up and clean up, removing rubbish and other pollutants from their local environment to help reduce the estimated 130,000 tonnes of plastic which ends up in our waterways and oceans each year.

It doesn't have to be a once a year event though - you can organise your own Clean Up any day of the year, or try your hand at a bit of "plogging" (a portmanteau of “jogging” and the Swedish phrase for pick up, “plocka upp”) where you can both get exercise and make a difference!

Our Eco Sustainability Committee  consistently champion the reduction of waste generated from business activities and promote ways in which both the business and us as individuals can make a difference.

Numerous recycling initiatives include the standard paper and plastics, to e-waste, batteries, and our closed-loop Terracycle recycling programs for asbestos single-use AIR cassettes and PPE hard hats). Greencap also participates in the Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs scheme where Greencap team members can drop off their the plastic bread tags which are then dropped off at an Aussie Bread Tags collection point and recycled locally, raising funds to buy wheelchairs for disadvantaged people, mainly in South Africa.

Greencap - Making Our World Safer