Bronwyn Voyce is making it easier for small businesses to donate, not ditch, surplus single-use plastic stock.
In 2021 the Great Plastic Rescue saved three million banned single-use plastic items in Queensland, reprocessing 1.94 tonnes of plastics destined for the dump.
The circular economy start-up is upping the ante as New South Wales prepares to introduce the next stage of its single-use plastics, banning straws, stirrers and cutlery, bowls and plates, expanded polystyrene food ware and cups and cotton buds from 1 November 2022.
Bronwyn Voyce, Great Plastic Rescue Founder, says while the bans are a vital step toward less plastic pollution – they are tipped to prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment in NSW during the next 20 years – they present a short-term dilemma of useful plastics ending up in landfill because retailers have been caught short.
She says there are wholesalers, distributors, small-to-medium-businesses, schools and community groups that have boxes of single-use plastics in the storeroom that will no longer be usable.
The Great Plastic Rescue sorts and then secures recycling and remanufacturing partners for the excess stock, ensuring a sustainable second life.
“For the recycling and resource recovery sectors this is valuable material. If separated it has an opportunity to go on to a longer life as new products through advanced manufacturing,” Bronwyn says.
“I’m passionate about intervening in the burial of valuable, recyclable resources, particularly clean, unused boxed stock.
“This circular project demonstrates that by diverting sorted, plastic waste, we can increase the volume of quality feedstock for recyclable plastics in Australia, enhancing the viability of the sector in the long-term. The economic benefit is further realised through growth in sustainable product and packaging manufacturing onshore.”
The rescue mission began in Queensland in 2021 when the single-use plastics ban came into effect. The free service was driven by a passionate support crew of manufacturing and recycling leaders, Evolve Group and Resitech, who provided space and resources.
Bronwyn was keen to avoid downcycling of donated stock, which occurs when mixed plastics are recycled into a lower quality polymer or product. She, along with Great Plastic Rescue support crew, spent hours manually sorting every box to maintain the integrity of the polymer and trying to find homes for them.
“Single-use plastics are more complex than they look,” she says. “They’re made from different polymers which require different recycling processes.”
In Queensland, Resitech turned rescued plastic forks, knives, sporks and spoons into resin used to manufacture BuildTuff’s TuffBlock by Evolve Group. TuffBlocks are made from 100 per cent recycled polypropylene, and are a foundation designed to replace traditional concrete deck footings and steel posts.
Bronwyn says a range of recycling and remanufacturing partners are lined up for the NSW rescue because the end product will depend on the type and volume of polymers rescued.
However, the group has been working with a new brand seeking to solve the current pallet and logistics crisis. The LODI pallet, made from recycled plastics, will have a longer life span and higher degree of recyclability.
The Great Plastic Rescue is an official NSW Environment Protection Authority sustainability partner and has received some funding to support two NSW rescue rounds.
The first was held in July and August, the second will be from mid-October to mid-November.
Carbon neutral courier service Sendle has also joined the plastic mission, enabling registered rescue businesses to send their first 25 kilograms of parcels for free.
To participate in round two of the voluntary campaign, organisations can register at https://www.greatplasticrescue.co before 15 November 2022.
For more information, visit: www.greatplasticrescue.co
