City of Hobart set to trial soft plastics collection point

Published on 14 May 2025

The City of Hobart will trial a new soft plastics collection point at the McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre.

This initiative is part of a 12-month trial   aimed at reigniting our community’s dedication to soft plastics recycling.

Although soft plastics recycling is a national challenge that needs a whole of supply chain solution, we can act locally to help.

The City of Hobart has partnered with RecycleSmart, the same company engaged by Clarence City Council, to collect the soft plastics from McRobies Gully.

The collected plastics will be transported to one of RecycleSmart's vetted recyclers interstate, where they will be turned back into a plastic derived oil for new products or transformed into asphalt additive.

Soft plastics are any plastics you can scrunch into a ball, including items such as biscuit packaging, bread bags, bubble wrap, cereal box liners, chocolate wrappers, cling wrap, document sleeves, fresh produce bags, frozen food bags, pasta/noodle packets, plastic film, plastic sachets, post satchels, rice bags, silver lined chip bags, squeeze pouches, plastic bags, snaplock bags, and reusable shopping bags.

Households can recycle soft plastics at the collection point located in the Waste Transfer Station.

Soft plastics should be rinsed clean with all labels and staples removed.

They can be placed in a clear plastic bag or loose in the collection bin.

This initiative also aligns with our zero waste strategy for 2030 and our Climate Ready Hobart Strategy.

The City will continue to work with the community to promote and educate residents around living sustainability, avoiding waste and recycling.

For more information about soft plastics and the recycling process, please visit here.

Quotes to be attributed to Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds:

“Our recent waste audit revealed that 6% of material found in the red-lid general waste bin is soft plastics suitable for recycling.

“This initiative is a crucial step towards reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices in our community.

"This trial is exclusively for residential soft plastics and will be offered at no cost to the community.

"We are eager to see how the community responds to this initiative.

“Our goal is to develop our waste services to collect and recycle more soft plastics from our community."