Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia

Australia generates thousands of tonnes of soft plastic every year, but without a national solution, most of it ends up in landfill. Change is coming. Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia is launching a national, industry-led soft plastics recycling scheme and we’re now seeking formal input from organisations across the supply chain. The Request for Information is now open. We're inviting submissions from MRFs, recyclers, councils, collection providers, logistics operators, technology platforms, end markets and expert advisors. Your input will directly shape the planning and delivery of the future scheme. All submissions will be treated confidentially and reviewed fairly, with support from an independent advisor to uphold probity. This is not just a request, it’s a chance to lead. The system will only work if it reflects real capability on the ground. If your organisation plays a role in the lifecycle of soft plastics, now is the time to step forward. 🔗 Submit to the RFI now: https://spsa.au/rfi/ #SPSA #SoftPlastics #Recycling #CircularEconomy #WasteManagement #Councils #SustainabilityAU #MRFs #PlasticRecycling #Stewardship #EPR 

🔔 We’ve just hit a major milestone and your brand can get on board now. Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia (SPSA) welcomes the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s decision to grant the scheme authorisation, providing SPSA with the green light to deliver a scalable national model for soft plastics collection and recycling.  How SPSA assists your organisation.  A cost-effective, scalable scheme you can plug into to collect and recycle your soft plastic consumer packaging.  The scheme builds on existing relationships and infrastructure, meaning efficient rollout and real investment in soft plastic recycling.  A chance to demonstrate leadership in packaging circularity, not just compliance. If you’re a brand or retailer, become an industry leader by joining the scheme alongside 7-Eleven,  Aldi, Coles, Colgate-Palmolive, Cripps Nubake, Danone, Essity, Ferrero, Fonterra, General Mills, Goodman Fielder, Haleon, HARIBO, Kao, Kellanova, L’Oréal, Mars, McCain, McCormick, Metcash, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Peters Ice Cream, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, Sanitarium, Saputo Dairy, SC Johnson, Simplot, Snackbrands, The Natural Confectionery Company, Unicharm, Unilever and Woolworths. Let’s work together to turn soft plastics from waste into a valuable resource. Join us here: https://spsa.au/join-us/

Belgium’s national packaging PRO, Fost Plus, is one of the world’s top-performing stewardship schemes, achieving 90% collection and nearly 50% local reprocessing. Join us for Session 2 of The Global Stewardship Playbook, featuring Fost Plus and Interafval, as they share how strong partnerships between producers and governments drive real circular outcomes. 📅 Thurs 6 Nov | 4:30–5:30pm AEDT 🎟️ Register here: https://lnkd.in/gfDyEfNc #SoftPlastics #Stewardship #CircularEconomy #RecyclingLeadership Barry Aaron Gabby Helen Katrien Piet Raewyn Lyn Craig

🌍 The 10 Golden Rules for Effective Product Stewardship A huge thank you to Helen Millicer, (One Planet Consulting), Joachim Quoden (EXPRA - Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance) and Robbie Staniforth (Ecosurety UK) for kicking off The Global Stewardship Playbook with expert insights on what makes stewardship systems thrive.    Three themes stood out: 1) Producer Responsibility schemes are an essential lever, used in many countries around the world, to fix environmental and economic problems and successfully lift collection and recycling rates to high levels. 2) All schemes vary. They evolve to suit each nation’s circumstance of existing organisations, economy, geography, and they continue to evolve. They perform a balancing act delivering public and environmentally beneficial services according to need and financial capacity. 3) The journey to create PROs is complex and difficult, and all parts of the supply chain have a part to play to maintain a functioning, viable PRO. An industry-designed, not-for-profit scheme run on behalf of producers and governments are proven globally versus multiple competing schemes.     These themes are relevant as Australia & New Zealand proceed with their soft plastic packaging schemes.    Next up => How good schemes collaborate with councils and invest in services and infrastructure. Fost Plus is the national approved mandatory PRO in Belgium for consumer packaging and a high performing global leader. Fost Plus has delivered strong industry investment and financial stability within Belgium, such that local plastics reprocessing rose from 9% in 2020 to 49% in 2024, with remaining material handled in neighbouring EU countries.      Established in 1994 as a regulated not-for-profit entity it may be the best model for Australia. It has evolved to address national and global fluctuations in policy, business and trade, introduced highly pronounced eco-modulated fees for producers and manages a €336M annual budget and investments.        Katrien Menten, Head of Account Management, Fost Plus will share their PRO role, how they plan and work with councils and processors on expanding collections and supplying into Belgium market.    Piet Coopman, Regional Coordinator, Interafval, Flanders on collection, contracts with regions, the PRO and local government service providers.    🗓️ Thursday 6 November | 4:30 – 5:30 pm AEDT  🎟️ Register here: https://lnkd.in/gfDyEfNc    Let’s keep building the knowledge that turns soft plastic into a valuable resource. To see the full program go to the SPSA website https://lnkd.in/gSfZveRR   #SoftPlastics #CircularEconomy #Stewardship #Recycling #Sustainability #APCO #PackagingForumNZ #SPSA

Europe developed and continually improved producer responsibility. It’s time for us to learn from them. For over 30 years, Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) in European nations have evolved creating high-performing systems that deliver great results for their producers, governments and communities. Australasia is at the same crossroads. Do we design systems that work, or repeat the pitfalls others learned the hard way? Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia is proud to host The Global Stewardship Playbook, a seven-part webinar series that brings world-leading experts from the UK and Europe to share proven strategies for building effective soft plastic stewardship schemes. The series is delivered in partnership with Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), One Planet Consulting and the The Packaging Forum NZ, uniting industry and government stakeholders from across Australasia for practical, future-focused insights. The opening session features Joachim Quoden, CEO of EXPRA - Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance and a globally recognised authority on EPR, Robbie Staniforth, Director Innovation and Policy, Ecosurety UK and Australia's own Helen Millicer, just returned from 6mths in EU. Together they will present on the 10 Golden Rules for effective product stewardship, relevance to Australasia and the pitfalls to avoid as Australia and NZ design the next generation of soft plastic schemes.   📅 Wednesday 22 October 🕘 9:00 – 10:00am AEDT 🎯 For producers, industry leaders, government, regulators and sustainability professionals shaping the future of packaging. RSVP to join The Global Stewardship Playbook webinar: https://lnkd.in/gfMdmjbt

Soft plastics aren’t waste, they’re an untapped national resource. The recent tour of iQRenew’s SPEC facility proves we can manage and recycle these materials onshore at scale.  Momentum for our soft plastic scheme has accelerated and from the video, you can see why: Infrastructure is ready: As iQRenew CEO Danial Gallagher says, lack of recycling capacity is no longer a barrier.  Proven Expanding End-Markets: Companies like Holloway Group, Innovative Plastic Solutions and Pelagic.Earth showed products made from recycled soft plastic, proving there’s demand and “closing the loop” on waste.  Action, not theory: This shows soft plastics recycling is happening now, not later or overseas. With SPSA’s scheme ramping up nationwide, we can turn plastic waste into value across FMCG, retail, apparel and pharma. Follow us and join our national effort. Together we’re proving that with the right partners, Australia can manage and recycle soft plastics at scale. Thanks again to everyone who made it happen and who attended. Graham, Annika, Aaron, Barry, Helen, Andrea, Matthew, Belinda, Pippa, Travis, Robin, Darin, Margaret, Jacky, Erin, Alexandra, Justin, Lindy, Jenny, David, Jim, Richard, Pete, Digby, Jeremy, Clive, Hannah, Neil and Gabby

You might think you already know how soft plastics recycling works in Australia. But some assumptions are slowing real progress.

On Sunday, the Albion Park community showed just how much soft plastics matter. With support from Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia's incomparable Gabby, over 500kg of soft plastics were collected in just a few hours. That material is now headed to iQRenew’s SPEC facility, where it will be transformed into valuable commodities instead of going to landfill. Events like this prove what we see time and again, when recycling is made accessible, communities step up. The energy in Albion Park sends a clear message. Australians are ready for a circular system for soft plastics. A big thank you to Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation for hosting, and to Circular Plastics Illawarra, Shellharbour City Council and The Flagstaff Group for making it possible. And for locals mark your calendars. The next pop-up soft plastics collections are: 📍 Towradgi on 25 October 📍 Kiama on 8 November Together, we’re turning soft plastic into a valuable resource. #circulareconomy #recycling #softplastics

110 industry leaders packed our facility tour. $12.6M in new recycling infrastructure locked in. Advanced chemical recycling capabilities months away from commissioning. A world-class Stakeholder Advisory Council ready to guide us in our mission turning soft plastic from waste into a valuable resource. The soft plastic stewardship movement isn't coming. It's here. A lot has happened in 30 days: ✅ ACCC draft approval published (final decision October) ✅ iQRenew facility awarded $9.1M to scale to 24,000 tonnes annually ✅ APR ChemCycle secured EPA licence for recycling plastic to oil ✅ 10-member Stakeholder Advisory Council appointed ✅ Value-chain Request for Information launching soon We're only collecting material we can actually recycle and place in end markets. No unbalanced supply and demand. Just proven infrastructure, committed partners and dedicated members. The countdown starts now: → October: Final ACCC determination → January 2026: Full scheme implementation None of this would be possible without our founding members, so a big thank-you to Mars, Nestlé, SC Johnson, Unicharm, Kellanova, Unilever, Fonterra, J.R. Simplot Company, PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark, General Mills, Sanitarium, Goodman Fielder, Chobani, McCormick & Company, Reckitt, Ferrero, Peters Ice Cream, Saputo Inc., Essity, Colgate-Palmolive, L'Oréal, Cripps Nubake Pty Ltd, Kenvue, Procter & Gamble, Kao Corporation, McCain Foods, Haleon, PackItIn, Metcash, Snackbrands Australia, Pringles, 7-Eleven, Accord, Bulla Dairy Foods, Coles Group, Woolworths Group, ALDI Stores Australia and the Australian Food and Grocery Council. Ready to lead the circular economy? Follow us for weekly updates and reach out to get involved. #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #PackagingInnovation #SoftPlastics #ProductStewardship

On Wednesday we saw what progress looks like. Over 100 stakeholders walked the floor with us at iQRenew’s SPEC facility. We watched post-consumer soft plastic turn into valuable feedstock right in front of our eyes. Food and grocery brands, retailers, councils, state and federal governments, and environmental leaders were all in the room. The energy was undeniable. The message was clear. Australia has the recycling capacity and demand is already here. This is another milestone on the soft plastics journey and just the beginning of what is possible through a national stewardship scheme. A huge thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making today such a success. Matthew, Robin, Alexandra, Lindy, Keith, Kathy, Darin, Margaret, Paul, John, Amy, Jenny, Lucia, Paul, Andrea, Pippa, Damir, Jim, Tyrone, Pete, Bede, Jeremy, Belinda, Madeleine, Richard, Alvaro, Brett, Daniel, David, Cara, Lisa