Australia’s Soft Plastic Recycling Sector Undergoing Major Transformation

Australia is experiencing a pivotal shift in soft plastic recycling – driven by significant policy reform, infrastructure investment, and growing interest from ESG-focused investors.

A $600 million Recycling Modernisation Fund, combined with the 2021 Waste Export Ban, has catalysed domestic processing projects, such as Pro-Pac’s LDPE plant and Naula’s feedstock facility, capable of handling some 47,000 tonnes per year of soft plastics.

Market projections underscore the scale of opportunity: the recycling sector is expected to grow at nearly 9 percent annually, reaching a valuation of around $1.6 billion by 2032. While this expansion creates new opportunities – particularly in chemical recycling and circular business models – it also brings challenges, ranging from infrastructure gaps to competition with virgin plastic and environmental concerns around advanced recycling processes (much like in the UK and Europe).

For RECOUP members, these developments offer insight into how coordinated policy, finance, and innovation can override recycling system failures – and where similar strategies might support UK soft plastics recycling ambitions.

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