Australians threw away more than two and a half million tonnes of plastic in 2018-19, with businesses responsible for more than half.1 That’s a lot of wasted resources!
The good news is, we all have a big opportunity to improve our management of plastics through reuse and recycling. Doing so will boost our economy, provide more green jobs, and preserve our natural resources.
Businesses and workplaces have an important role to play in turning around Australia’s plastic problem, by salvaging these valuable materials for reuse and keeping them out of landfill.
This guide will help you reduce the amount of plastic you use at your business or workplace, increase the reuse and recycling of plastics, and provide suggestions for more sustainable alternatives to plastic products where appropriate.
This guide is beneficial for any business that uses plastic, which is virtually every organisation! However, it will be especially helpful to small and medium sized businesses and workplaces seeking to improve their management of plastics including single-use plastic products, plastic strapping, polystyrene, plastic bags, plastic wrap and more.
Facts about Recycling Plastics
Most plastic is made from finite fossil fuel resources such as crude oil, coal, and gas.
2.54 million tonnes of plastic waste were generated in Australia in 2018-20191. That's 101 kilograms per capita.
Plastics can be recycled into many types of new products, from plastic bottles to outdoor furniture.
Recycling 1 tonne of HDPE plastic saves around 1.1 tonnes of CO2 emissions2. HDPE is the most common type of plastic used in Australia, used to make products like containers, piping, and plastic bags.
Organisations can refer to the waste hierarchy to improve their use and management of plastics.
Using the Waste Hierarchy at Work
Taking action to reduce the impact of plastic use on our environment is always a good thing. However, some actions have more environmental benefits than others.
The 'waste hierarchy' — a conceptual framework that ranks the management of our resources in order of what is least to most harmful to our environment — helps to determine what actions have most impact. Generally, the higher up the waste hierarchy, the bigger the positive impact.
Think of the waste hierarchy when choosing what type of products to buy and deciding how to dispose of materials.
Click on each segment of the graphic to find out more.
Using the waste hierarchy will help transition Australia to a circular economy.
Discover how you can help rethink our approach to products and services so that they are regenerative by design using circular economy principles. Visit Planet Ark's Australian Circular Economy Hub (ACE Hub).
Understanding Plastic Identification Codes
Most products and pieces of packaging made from plastic have a small triangle on them with a number inside. This is a plastic identification code, used to identify the type of plastic the product is made from. The triangle is often confused with the global symbol for recycling, the Mobius Loop, but it is not an indication the item can be recycled.
What's the purpose of these codes?
The purpose of these symbols is to communicate the type of plastic that has been used to make the item.
Should I pay attention to them?
You shouldn't use them to judge the recyclability of an item, but they can be helpful if you need to know what type of plastic has been used to make an item. For example, if your organisation needs to dispose of a large number of plastic items, the code can be used to communicate to your recycler the type of plastic you want to recycle. Some types of plastic are harder to recycle than others, so this information is very important to recyclers.
If your business manufactures packaging or packaged goods, find out how you can use the Australasian Recycling Label, the only evidence-based recycling label for households, by visiting the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation.
Top 10 Plastic Products & Their Solutions
We've identified ten common plastic products and materials used by workplaces and businesses.
Click on the product to find out how your organisation can follow the waste hierarchy to improve your management of these materials.
Soft Plastics
What does this include? Plastic bags, shrink wrap or plastic film, cling wrap, and plastic packaging that can be easily scrunched in your hand.
Switch to more sustainable alternatives where possible, like reusable bags instead of single-use plastic bags.
If your business or workplace uses large quantities of soft plastics, there are a growing number of commercial recyclers that will accept them. Use our free directory to search for commercial recycling services in your area. Contact the recyclers to check they recycle the type and amount of soft plastic you want to dispose of.
Want fewer unnecessary costs?
Avoid excess waste management and transport fees by purchasing or leasing equipment such as balers and compactors. By compacting the soft plastics, less space will be required for storage and transportation of the materials will be less frequent, reducing your costs. Find suitable equipment for your business in the Small Scale Recycling Equipment Catalogue.
Printer cartridges
What does this include? Printer/copier ink and toner cartridges.
Cartridges are made of plastic, metals, and ink, all of which can be recycled into new products when they are collected through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark. If your workplace has a printer, recycling your cartridges is a free and easy way to reduce plastic waste. But first consider the waste hierarchy to see if there are other options that may have a better environmental outcome.
Avoid printing unnecessarily to make your cartridges last longer and save energy. Many workplaces are now going printer-free by digitising everything they do. This reduces our reliance on the natural resources used to make not only the cartridges, but also the printer and paper.
Consider buying reusable printer cartridges, which can be refilled through commercial retailers (although only a certain number of refills are possible per cartridge). But first check with your printer manufacturer as substandard refilled ink may impact the durability of the printer itself.
Your workplace may be eligible for a free recycling collection box through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark. The program has recycled around 50 million cartridges with zero waste to landfill!
If printing remains necessary in your workplace, you can further extend your positive environmental impact by purchasing paper that is made from at least 50% recycled content.
Planet Ark Paper is made from 100% recycled paper and is carbon neutral. It even comes in a box with no ream wrappers, so there's less plastic packaging!
Rigid plastics
What does this include? Any type of plastic product that has been moulded into a hard shape such as tubs, buckets, water tanks, bumper bars, and plastic furniture.
Before throwing away items you no longer need, consider if they could be used again by someone else. If the item is i
