Tanya Plibersek urged to intervene to stop stockpiled soft plastics from being dumped

Environment groups are urging federal and state governments to ensure thousands of tonnes of soft plastic that could end up in landfill are safely warehoused by supermarket chains until recycling facilities become available, even if that takes years.

The Nine newspapers revealed that plastic collected and dropped by supermarket customers had been secretly stored for at least four years while the company contracted to run the scheme, REDcycle, claimed it was being distributed for reuse and recycling.

The Victorian EPA has said it was aware of 14 warehouses in suburban Melbourne where plastic was being stockpiled and had taken action to ensure the immediate fire risk was controlled and laws were complied with.

Plibersek said the federal government would not directly intervene. She said the government had been supporting the supermarkets to resolve the problems, but safety must be the first priority.

He said that would require kerbside collection for soft plastic, a step proposed by the Victorian government, as well as new sorting facilities and making the targets mandatory.