REDcycle research first discovered the plastics piling up in a Williamstown North warehouse in May.
Earlier this month, plastic bags were being stocked at sites in the Melbourne suburbs of Tottenham, Williamstown North, Truganina, West Footscray, Campbellfield and Tullamarine.
Stocks of soft plastic inside a Melbourne warehouse. Credit: EPA
REDcycle, a Melbourne-based company, claimed it collected up to 5 million plastic items a day from public drop-off points at nearly 2,000 supermarkets across the country and delivered them to other companies, where used as ingredients in concrete and asphalt. , street furniture, bollards and shopping carts.
However, REDcycle transported the plastic to warehouses for long-term storage in what some experts considered a potential risk to the environment and fire safety.
The scheme had become almost entirely reliant on a single recycling operator, Close the Loop, to process its stock, however, a fire at a Melbourne Close the Loop factory destroyed the Australian waste industry’s ability to recycle soft plastics
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The blaze took more than 50 firefighters about five hours to bring under control, and forced the closure of the Hume Freeway in both directions.
Major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths suspended their REDcycle programs and said in statements they were working with authorities and reiterated their commitment to soft plastic recycling in the future.
Supermarket chain Aldi also halted its soft plastics trial with the program being carried out in 12 stores.
Woolworths declined to comment, saying it was a matter for the authorities.
REDcycle and Coles have also been contacted for comment.
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