Australia’s major supermarket chains have been authorised by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to continue their collaboration to recycle stockpiled soft plastics and continue with the pilot in-store collection program.
Interim authorisation will allow the soft plastics in-store collection trial program to be implemented in 12 Melbourne stores – five Coles, five Woolworths, and two Aldis.
Under the conditions of this temporary authorisation, the big supermarkets must provide the ACCC with quarterly progress reports and minutes from every Soft Plastics Taskforce meeting, which are substantially the same terms as the previous authorisation. Another condition is that all agreements stop immediately if the temporary authority expires or is revoked.
“While it is disappointing that the majority of the soft plastic stockpiles remain in storage, we appreciate that recycling processors came online in 2024 and only now is there capacity to process the stockpiles,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said.
“It is important to keep the stockpiles out of landfills and this interim authorisation will enable the supermarkets to process the stockpiles with the requisite sense of urgency, without any disruption.”
According to the ACCC, big supermarkets should not impede or limit recycling processors from collaborating with other companies in any long-term collecting program.
A public consultation procedure has begun on the substantive proposal, with submissions due by August 6.
