Supermarkets issued new clean-up notice over plastic stockpiles

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have offered to clean-up more than 5200 tonnes of soft plastics left behind from a failed recycling program.

The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) yesterday issued a revised draft Clean-Up Notice to the grocers regarding the waste, which is stockpiled across the state.

Both retailers have until next Monday, February 27, to respond to the notices, which were refined following feedback after they were first issued on February 3.

The soft plastics had been taken into stores by customers as part of the REDcycle program, but had been sitting idle in warehouses around the country.

NSW EPA Chief Executive Officer Tony Chappel said both Coles and Woolworths had indicated a willingness to work with the EPA to address immediate safety concerns.

“We welcome the decision by both retailers to prioritise the safety of NSW communities and take responsibility for the REDcycle stockpiles in NSW,” Chappel said.

“Our revised notice requires the removal of soft plastics from their current location to an appropriate site within seven weeks to ensure we reduce the risk of fire.”

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One of the interim options in the notice would allow the supermarkets to temporarily store the plastic waste inside sealed shipping containers at a lawful facility.

Beyond the interim storage measures, the revised notice gives the retailers 12 months to develop a “lawful solution” that determines the future of the materials, whether that be reprocessing at a recycling facility, exporting it overseas, or, as a last resort, sending it to landfill.

Chappel said the EPA and supermarkets were committed to ensuring the material is recycled with landfilling the waste as a last resort.

“All manufacturers and retailers have a responsibility to deliver sustainable solutions for plastic packaging,” he said.

“We are pleased to see industry engaging productively on both immediate and long-term solutions to these shared sustainability challenges, and we are now working more constructively towards a common goal.”

9News.com.au has contacted Woolworths and Coles for comment.