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Plastic bag recycling program

Every year Australians take home four billion plastic bags, mostly from supermarkets.

Only about three percent of these bags are recycled with the bulk ending up in landfill or as litter, harming wildlife and clogging drains and waterways. The environmental problems are long-term because of the large quantities of bags thrown away and the time it takes for these bags to break down.

The best option is to avoid using plastic bags. Alternatives include cardboard boxes, reusable bags or compostable shopping bags. Planet Ark offers lots of tips on how to avoid using plastic bags.

But if you have used plastic bags, they can be recycled at your local waste recycling facility or supermarket, as long as they are clean and contain no waste or dockets. They cannot be placed in your kerbside recycling bin.

The following used but clean thin film plastics made from low density polyethylene (LDPE) can also now be dropped off in the blue recycling frames at Council’s Merrimac and Helensvale transfer stations.

  • bubblewrap
  • clear plastic films, such as cling films and stretch wrap from packaging
  • stretchy garbage bags 
  • plastic bags

 

 

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