The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has granted interim approval to Coles Group, Woolworths Group and ALDI Stores (Australia), allowing them to continue their joint efforts to recycle stockpiled soft plastics in the country.
This measure comes because the current permit was due to expire on Monday (July 22).
In June last year, the regulator granted conditional permission for these retailers to work together through the Soft Plastics Taskforce to tackle the build-up of household soft plastics following the closure of REDcycle’s collection programme.
The new provisional permit allows for the continuation of a pilot program for grocery pickup in stores.
The program is currently active in 12 stores in Melbourne, including five Coles, five Woolworths and two ALDI.
Mick Keogh, deputy chairman of the ACCC, said: “It is important to keep stock out of landfill and this temporary permit will allow supermarkets to process stock with the required urgency, without any disruption.
“Many consumers are keen to see in-store collection and recycling of soft plastics return on a larger scale, so we are keen to see this pilot programme continue with some urgency and enable future expansion of in-store collection.”
The terms of this authorisation are the same as those of the previous authorisation, which required the Soft Plastics Taskforce to provide quarterly progress reports and minutes of meetings to the ACCC.
In addition, all arrangements must be terminated immediately upon expiry or withdrawal of the permit.
“Given consumer concerns, it is important that there is continued transparency about the progress supermarkets are making in processing soft plastic supplies,” Keogh said.
The ACCC expects that supermarkets will not prevent recyclers from working with other parties on collection schemes in the future.
A public consultation on the substantive application is underway. Submissions must be submitted by 6 August 2024.
In November last year, Australian yoghurt manufacturer MOO Premium Foods launched agreed to remove all her company’s claims about ‘ocean plastic’, following an investigation by the ACCC.
“ACCC authorises continued soft plastics recycling” was originally created and published by Packaging Gatewaya brand of GlobalData.
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