AFGC welcomes a powerful new plastics partnership in Australian recycling

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) welcomes the partnership announced today by iQ Renew and REDcycle as an exciting development that adds vital scale to Australia’s soft plastics recycling capabilities. AFGC CEO Tanya Barden congratulated REDcycle and iQ Renew for combining to create a strong new partnership with deep expertise across all aspects of plastics recycling, from collection to processing and recovery of valuable materials for new markets.

“The AFGC and the food and grocery manufacturers that we represent have worked closely with REDcycle and iQ Renew to develop packaging recycling in Australia and it’s an exciting development to have these two organisations combine forces,” Ms Barden said.

Ms Barden said the combination of REDcycle’s network of partners and drop-off points around the country with iQ Renew’s innovative material processing technology is a significant step in building the scale industry needs for a true circular economy in packaging and soft plastics. News that the partnership will accelerate development of a purpose-built soft plastic engineered commodity (SPEC) plant to create a local source of high-quality feedstock for recycled products is another exciting outcome.

“The AFGC is a proud partner of the REDcycle soft plastics recycling initiative, as are many of our member companies – food and grocery manufacturers who are focused on providing Australia’s everyday essentials in a sustainable way,” Ms Barden said.

The AFGC will continue working with REDcycle and iQ Renew on the development of the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS) – Australia’s largest industry-led plastics recycling scheme. The NPRS will create new capacity across the nation for recycling soft plastic packaging such as bread and cereal bags, frozen vegetable bags and ice cream wrappers, and drive the creation of an end-to-end solution that captures soft plastics and returns them to the market as a valuable new resource.