Plastics
Campaspe Shire Council is committed to reducing the number of plastics sent to landfill by increasing resource recovery and promoting a healthy and resilient natural environment.
Plastics Identification Code
There is a wide range of plastics, and it can be difficult to know what to do with them. Treatment of plastics for recycling depends on what plastic they are made from and whether they are hard or soft (scrunches down in the hand).
To determine what a plastic is made from use the Plastics Identification Code, any plastics labelled 1 to 6 can be collected for recycling.
We recognise not every plastic will be labelled. Confusing, we know.
If unsure about the treatment of any plastic, please refer to our A-Z Guide to check what to do with individual items before recycling.
Hard Plastics
In Campaspe Shire, people can recycle hard, rigid plastics.
Apart from Expanded Polystyrene (e.g. Polystyrene foam, whitegoods packaging and takeaway containers), hard plastic items can be disposed of for recycling in:
✔️ Yellow bins.
✔️ Co-mingle skips located at all Resource Recovery Centres.
Common household items which are usually both hard and labelled as plastic include:
- Milk, Soft Drink and Juice plastic bottles.
- Peanut butter plastic jars.
- Fruit punnets.
- Biscuit trays.
- Plastic takeaway containers.
- Butter, Margarine, and yogurt tubs.
- Laundry liquid containers.
- Ice cream tubs.
- Shampoo bottles and liquid soap bottles.
- Plastic meat trays.
In relation to Expanded Polystyrene specifically:
❌ Expanded Polystyrene CANNOT be disposed of in yellow bins.
✔️ Expanded Polystyrene CAN be disposed of in specialised bins located at Mt. Scobie (Kyabram) and Echuca Resource Recovery Centers for FREE.
All hard plastic items disposed of in this way are collected and brought to the Echuca Materials Recovery Facility where the material is separated, grouped and sent to a manufacturer to be made into new plastic products like wheelie bins, furniture, containers, and food packaging.
Soft Plastics
In Campaspe, people can recycle soft plastics which can be softly scrunched down in the hand and don't pop back out can be recycled at select Resource Recovery Centres.
❌ Soft plastics cannot be disposed of in the yellow bins.
✔️ Soft plastics items can be disposed of at the Mt Scobie (Kyabram), Rochester and Echuca Resource Recovery Centres for FREE.
Common household items which are usually both soft and labelled plastic are:
- Shrink/cling wrap.
- Bubble wrap.
- Bread bags (without the tie).
If possible, please separate clear soft plastics from coloured soft plastics before going to a Resource Recovery Centre to assist with baling.
Red Cycle
Campaspe Shire Council Resource Recovery Centres do not collect plastics with the Red Cycle label. Unfortunately, these items need to be put in the red bin after use. We hope in the future this scheme will re-emerge.
See our useful tips prior to visiting a Resource Recovery Centre:
- Save and sort soft plastics into piles to save time during drop offs.
- Make sure your plastics are empty and as dry as possible.
Frequently asked questions
What are the common mistakes when recycling plastics?
❌ Disposing of plastic in yellow bins in bags.
Accepted plastic needs to be loose, not in a bag when recycling in yellow bins or skips at the Resource Recovery Centres.
❌ People disposing of mixed plastics into the yellow bin for recycling.
Plastics which are foil lined, toys, garden hoses, plastic pipes, balloons, cellophane and sticky tape are not always recyclable. Unless the object is labelled PET (1), HDPE (2), PVC (3), LDPE (4), PP (5) or PS (6) as per the plastics identification code it cannot be put in a yellow bin or co-mingle skip.
❌ People recycling soft plastics and polystyrene in yellow bins.
Soft plastics and Expanded Polystyrene do not belong in the yellow bin.
Save soft plastic and white polystyrene into separate piles and bring them into Mt Scobie or Echuca Resource Recovery Centers for FREE.
What is the Plastics Identification Code?
The plastics identification code is a voluntary code used by manufacturers to identify the type of plastic used to make individual items.
The code is helpful for understanding if an item is plastic. If you suspect an item is plastic, the identification code will confirm this is true. If the object is not labelled with the identification code it may not be made from mixed plastics and not recyclable.
How do I recycle plastic toys?
Any non-battery-operated plastic toys labelled PET (1), HDPE (2), PVC (3), LDPE (4), PP (5), or PS (6) can go in the yellow bin.
Mixed plastic toys in good condition can be given to charity for reuse or disposed of using any of the regifting programs available online.
All other plastic toys in poor condition must have the batteries removed and can be disposed of in the red bin.
Household batteries can be collected at home and dropped off at a local drop-off point (find yours here) or any Resource Recovery Centre for FREE. Batteries and toys containing batteries do not belong in any bin as they are highly flammable.
How do I recycle plastic silage wrap?
Plastic silage wrap can be disposed of at the Echuca or Mt Scobie (Kyabram) Resource Recovery Centre.
To be accepted, after removing wrap from the bale it must be separated from twine/netting and reasonably clean with grass removed. Clean plastic silage wrap is accepted for FREE.
What do I do with plastics that can't be recycled?
All other plastics like disposable nappies, tacky/sticky composite plastics, bioplastics, garden hoses and hard plastics cannot go in the yellow bin or be received at any Resource Recovery Centre.
These items need to go in the red bin and will be sent to landfill.
How can I reduce my plastic use?
Here are some simple swaps to reducing your plastic use.
- Remember your reusable water bottle, rather than purchasing a single use plastic one.
- Bring a reusable cup when ordering takeaway coffee.
- Bring reusable containers for takeaway.
- Store leftovers in reusable containers, rather than disposable bags.
- Choose reusable straws over plastic straws.
- Choose to refuse plastic cutlery.
- Choose to buy your produce unpackaged.
Why recycle plastic?
Plastics are a high value material and when they are collected for recycling, they can be bought back into the circular economy and made into new things. If they are not recycled, they hang around in the environment for a long time without breaking down. By collecting materials like plastics for recycling we are helping to reduce environmental pollution.