Soft plastics recycling is alive and well in Australia — just not easily accessed the way it was before last year's REDcycle collapse. The failure of this recycling program has been a huge disappointment across communities, partly because boo, bad for environment and also omg wtf am I supposed to do with all this rubbish!!

Since the news broke, stuff's been going on behind the scenes to pick up where the failed program left off. Stuff like:

• big chain supermarkets doing a taskforce
• one EPA getting mad at REDcycle
• another EPA recommending landfill
• an Uber for rubbish in Sydney, and
• local solutions brewing in Western Australia (including a whole plan)

It's all optimistic, but as always, it may take a while for a workable fix to emerge and get established.

But you CAN start recycling again

In the meantime, if you're sick of staring at the soft plastics stockpiling in your laundry room (we keep ours under the stairs), TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box is currently the most legit way to recycle.

Not gonna lie — the boxes are pricey for households. The small and medium sizes are $163 and $196 respectively at the time of this email.

HOWEVER, an expense like this may be less of a issue for small-to-medium-sized businesses and — especially — employers who care about things like people, planet and community.

Imagine if your workplace would serve its local community by acting as a collection point for soft plastics. Or if not community-wide, even just running a collection program for employees and their families could make more of a difference than, say, doing nothing at all.

For West Australians in particular: if you're game to approach your manager or HR rep about this, here's a short and sweet email template you can copypaste as a starter:

Hey [Name of Manager or HR Rep],

You may be aware of the recent collapse of RedCycle in WA. The options for recycling soft plastic are now extremely limited in our state, and I know this issue is important to several employees at our company.

I just read about the TerraCycle Zero Waste Box for soft plastic recycling and reckon it would be really cool if we get some for the office. You can read more about the boxes here: https://zerowasteboxes.terracycle.com.au/products/soft-plastics-waste-zero-waste-box™

Running a collection program for staff and their families would be a great for staff morale. Additionally, it's a very positive public-facing initiative for our company - our customers and clients would be excited to see us being proactive on environmental protection and waste reduction.

I would love the chance to chat with you further about this. I am available on [day, time options], let me know if this works for you and I will set up a meeting.

Kind regards,
[your name]

Unfortunately, in a lot of small businesses, internal programs like this tend to either be volunteer-run or fall upon an office manager to oversee. But don't let that discourage you from starting a conversation.

The first step is to get the ball rolling — where it goes from there can be approached as a collaborative effort.

And remember: recycling is only a second preference

The most preferred approach is to avoid unnecessary plastics where possible. Obviously, if you need it, you need it — like how some disabled people/people with disabilities can legitimately need plastic drinking straws.

But let's be honest, sometimes we don't need those fruit and veggie bags at the supermarket, plastic takeaway containers, or disposable coffee cups. Not when you can buy your veggies loose or BYO container from home. Not to mention that some cafés offer discounts if you BYO cup, in case you needed the extra incentive.