Australasian Recycling Label

The Australasian Recycling Label is an evidence-based system that provides you with easy to understand recycling information when you need it most. It removes confusion, saves you time and reduces waste going to landfill.

So you think you can recycle meat trays? Well, it depends. As seen on the ABC's War on Waste, some trays may not actually get recycled depending on the type of plastic or even the colour. Black trays for instance do not reflect light and are similar in colour to the conveyor belt at a sorting facility. The optical scanners that determine if a material is plastic don’t pick it up and it doesn’t get recycled as a result. So how are you supposed to know what to do?

For mixed materials, like the packaging protecting your supermarket-bought cake, the different components, like plastic and paper, need to be recycled separately. So that box your yummy slices of banana bread came in should be separated from the plastic film. The box can go in the recycling bin, but the film is a soft plastic which cannot be recycled in most kerbside collections. The soft plastic need to be taken to a store drop-off point, but that information is rarely included on packaging.

Fortunately, more and more brands are using the Australasian Recycling Label so consumers know exactly what to do with each piece of packaging. Many companies are now assessing the packaging they sell their products in and, depending on the materials used, the Australasian Recycling Label will tell you what to do to ensure it is recycled.

Many products from Woolworths, Officeworks, Blackmores, Australia Post, T2 and Plantic already have the Australasian Recycling Label. With many more expected to start using the label very soon, keep on the look out for the label in the coming months!

Take positive action

If your favourite brands are not using the Australasian Recycling Label, hit them up on their social media pages. We’ve made it easy with some text you can copy and paste below: