To manage the soft plastics stockpile and enable in-store collections, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has proposed to grant authorisation to allow supermarkets to continue collaborating.
The proposed authorisation will allow the supermarkets to “develop and implement a solution” to address the environmental risk of the existing stockpile and any future waste.
ACCC deputy chair, Mick Keogh, said the RedCycle liquidation has “provoked a lot of community concern”.
“We are proposing to grant authorisation with conditions to ensure there is continued transparency on the progress of the roadmap and that the public is kept up to date.”
The proposed authorisation is for 12 months and supermarkets need to apply for any longer-term solutions.
“We believe the authorisation will lead to public benefits such as the developing of interim solutions to be jointly funded by the supermarkets, the maximising the opportunities to divert soft plastics from landfill and ensuring clear and consistent messaging to consumers on the resumption of in-store collections,” said Keogh.
