One of the nation’s largest recycling companies has been accused of secretly dumping more than 260 tonnes of plastics into a landfill, with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek saying the -allegations could spark an investigation by corporate watchdogs.

In documents obtained by The Australian, one of REDcycle’s leading NSW logistics partners alleges the recycling company – which claimed to have collected up to five million plastic items a day from more than 2000 supermarkets – directed a Newcastle waste management facility to transport the product from a warehouse to the tip in March 2021.

REDcycle had been stockpiling plastic waste since early 2019 despite “fundamentally and profoundly” committing to keeping waste out of the landfill and pledging that materials would only be stored “in the short term”.

The company had assured customers as recently as this month that no stockpile of plastics had been sent to the landfill and that all stored materials would be processed at a later date.

Gollans Logistics, which housed 528 tonnes’ worth of plastics, now says that half went to a Newcastle tip and the rest was redistributed to be secretly stockpiled in warehouses across the country.

The Australian approached REDcycle for comment. However, through the company’s lawyers, it indicated it did not want to be contacted on the issue.

Ms. Plibersek said the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Australian Securities & Investments Commission could look into the allegations, which she labeled “concerning”.

She has directed her department to look into the matter and is coordinating with other government agencies.

“I know that Australians who in good faith took the time to drop their soft plastics off at the local supermarket are as concerned as I am,” Ms. Plibersek said. “If these allegations are correct, they would seem to raise matters that the ACCC, ASIC, and other agencies may wish to investigate.”

The company’s NSW logistics partner, Gollans Logistics director Raymond Gollan, told the Australian he had been storing hundreds of plastic bales since he was first engaged through a -mutual contact in 2019.

Mr. Gollan said he was told the plastics would need to be stored only until March 2020 when a new Melbourne recycling plant came online. The recycling plant never eventuated, bales of plastics built up, and no products were ever removed as promised.

At maximum capacity in July 2020, the logistics company’s mega-warehouse in Newcastle held 528 tonnes of plastics, equivalent to about 174 shipping containers. The largest single bale weighed about 380kg.

That same month, the Environmental Protection Authority issued Mr. Gollan with a warning for maintaining an unlawful waste facility, including fines of up to $250,000 for breaching the law and a further $60,000 each day for the continued offense.

Mr. Gollan said he was forced to strike a deal with REDcycle to remove half the plastic waste, 264tonnes’ worth, to a Newcastle tip in early March 2021.
The remaining half was transported to warehouses across the country where the plastic continues to be housed instead of recycled.

“The most infuriating component of this saga is, by far, the flagrant embellishment to the recycling community of what it is in fact they are doing, and that the valuable time of individuals and families to thoughtfully recycle is thrown into the same rubbish pile as the vast majority of their product,” Mr. Gollan said. “Red Group’s conduct as a business is abhorrent, and behaves in a manner bordering on criminal.”

One owner of a Sydney warehouse storing some of the plastic materials told The Australian they were still uncertain of when it would be removed for recycling.

Spartrans general manager Glen Cavanagh said he agreed to receive plastics in early 2021 on the condition it would be stored for a short period of time until it was taken to a recycling facility on the central coast in NSW due to come online in 2022.

Mr. Cavanagh said he was still storing up to 1100 pallets of product, equivalent to about 138 shipping containers, with REDcycle four months behind on paying their invoices.

“It just felt like it was going to keep on coming and there wasn’t anything going out,” Mr. Cavanagh said. “I know several other people storing this stuff and none of it is moving anywhere.”

Over the time Mr. Gollan was engaged with REDcycle, documents obtained by The Australian show that he had accumulated more than $328,000 in unpaid invoices. Mr. Gollan calculated his opportunity cost from lost work at up to $1.2m and was forced to shut down his business last year after it was put into administration.

REDcycle’s business model saw it partner with supermarkets and major food brands, with customers, dropping-off soft plastics – including shopping bags, food wrappers, glad wrap, and petfood packs – into bins on the understanding the plastics would be turned into new products like furniture, concrete, and asphalt. Woolworths and Coles, which both partnered with REDcycle, are likely to come under pressure for failing to investigate where the plastic waste was going.

Coles was made aware of issues with REDcycle’s collection schedule in mid-2020 after Mr. Gollan informed it of large amounts of stock being warehoused and awaiting collection.
Woolworths in November also claimed to have been “only recently informed” about the problems plaguing REDcycle and apologized to customers.

A Woolworths spokesman said the company was “extremely disappointed” that REDcycle never raised stockpiling issues with the company during regular fortnightly meetings or site visits.

A Coles spokeswoman said the company took steps to investigate the “nature of operational challenges” it was facing three weeks before REDcycle suspended the program in early November.

REDcycle recently announced a temporary pause on collections after two companies that normally accepted plastics for recycling shut down because of “several unforeseen challenges, exacerbated by the pandemic”.

BY JESS MALCOLM, REPORTER
Jess Malcolm is a political reporter in The Australian’s Canberra bureau, where she covers a range of rounds including agriculture, infrastructure, and regional affairs.