Shocking find in Woolworths and Coles recycling scandal as watchdog discovers 3,000 TONNES of plastic bags hidden in six warehouses
- EPA uncovered 3,000 tonnes of soft plastics stored in Melbourne warehouses
- Material was kept in storage by one of Australia’s biggest recycling programs
- EPA chief executive Lee Miezis said material appeared to come from interstate
One of Australia’s biggest recycling programs that partnered with Coles and Woolworths secretly stored thousands of tonnes of soft plastics in six warehouses.
The Environment Protection Watchdog has uncovered REDcycle dumped 3,000 tonnes of the material in multiple locations across Melbourne.
EPA chief executive Lee Miezis said a lot of the plastic appeared to have come from interstate.
One of Australia’s biggest recycling programs that partnered with Coles and Woolworths secretly stored thousands of tonnes of soft plastics in six warehouses (pictured, a REDcycle bin in Coles)
‘Our officers are out inspecting sites today and we’ll continue to work hard – using our stronger regulatory powers – until we’re certain we’ve found every site in Victoria,’ he said.
‘We will not allow unacceptable risks to Victoria’s community or environment from pollution or waste.
‘Although the operators of REDcycle did tell us about some of the sites, intelligence from logistics companies and others is assisting EPA’s investigations. If you have any of these soft plastic wastes at your warehouse, we need to know.’
‘For your safety and for the safety of your employees, business and local community, you must make sure that you’re complying with our environmental laws.’
It comes after revelations surfaced in November that REDcycle had been stockpiling millions of soft plastics.
REDcycle, which has donation bins in thousands of Coles and Woolworths stores across Australia, stopped its recycling operations several months ago but continued to collect soft plastics.
REDcycle collected 5million pieces of plastic everyday with bins in Coles, Woolworths and several other major retailers (pictured, a worker at Coles)
The recycling program claims to collect up to five million pieces of plastic everyday from supermarkets and other partners, including Australia Post.
In a previous statement, REDcycle said it was storing the collected plastic in a warehouse and would continue to do so until its operations restart.
‘REDcycle took the decision to hold material in the short term, at great personal expense to the organisation,’.
‘The REDcycle team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to find other processing solutions and end markets. Potential new opportunities are being presented every day, however they will take time to operationalise.’