A RECYCLING STORY FOR ALL GARDENERS

In any story there are inconsistencies! The problem with plastic is that it is all lumped together into one category that comes with a negative reputation.

But what if the story wasn’t like that? Most of the bad press is simply what the mainstream media has used to push a narrative that is ill-informed, and agenda based. Plastic is not simply going to disappear, but it can definitely be managed correctly.

Not all plastics are equal. They are not all the same and they should be treated differently. A supermarket bag is very different to a tag or a plant pot.

We can reduce the waste sent to landfill. We can stop importing more bio-products and actually use what we already have at our disposal. In treating plastic as generic, we are wasting opportunities. We need to treat it by code.

The fact is plastics already exist. They are part of our everyday lives. We have spent energy making them and turning them into household items. How we dispose of them in order to reuse them is the real issue.

It makes perfect sense to take something that already exists and turn it into a product so it can be used again, and again, and again. And that really is our ultimate goal. To create Australian made, Australian bought and Australian consumed closed-loop packaging.

What if there was a group of people and companies that are already doing the right thing? Who are trying to improve the way that we use plastic and how we recycle it. Who can actually take waste and turn it back into a usable product again?

Garden City Plastics (Plastic Flower Pots), Norwood Industries (Plastic Plant labelling) and Polymer Processors (Plastic Recyclers) have banded together to ‘Be Plastic Smart’. They are manufacturing, branding, collecting used material and turning back into flower pots again.

‘Plastic Smart’ means recycling the polypropylene (PP5) products already in existence into something functional and beneficial. The horticulture industry has been doing this for decades and has an appetite to do even more.

Did you know that Greenlife Industries, Australia wide, are today already keeping over 10 million kilograms of PP5 out of landfill through recycling? Pots, stakes and tags are all PP5.

In Australia, plant pots and labels are predominantly made from PP5 plastic; a plastic that is clean and non-toxic and can be recycled over and over again.

However, currently only eight per cent of PP5 that is found in plant pots and labels is getting recycled; out of the 15,000 tonnes that is manufactured each year.

For every ten plants purchased in Australia, one pot is recycled. And it doesn’t have to be that way; it’s time to close the loop.

All that is required is some awareness, co-operation and personal responsibility to be taken by all of us as consumers to ‘do the right thing’.

The ‘Plastic Smart’ program begins with simple solutions. The biggest issue facing recyclers is sorting. But if all the PP5 goes in the same bin we have instantly removed the biggest hurdle.

In order to achieve closed-loop recycling of PP5 in Australian horticulture, our goal is to place collection bins in garden centres and commercial grower sites across the country. Through a national program in place to collect, recycle and reuse all of the PP5 in circulation.

“Our Nursery is working with an active company, in Garden City Plastics, who are aiming to Close the Loop on PP5 plastic, which is terrific. As the plant pot is an integral part of our production process, a recycling program gives us a sustainability footprint in this area and also allows us to promote this to our customers," commented a leading landscape tree grower.

The program is proving to be a big hit with industry and consumers alike. And as the demand grows, so to does the number of collection points and bins.

“Plantmark is proud to be involved in the Plastic PP5 Pot collection system with Garden City Plastics. The new initiative has been well supported by our trade customers, including the wholesale and retail nurseries, landscapers and councils. It provides a much-needed avenue for our industry to be smarter about sustainability.” Said Simon Lindsay, General Manager, Plantmark.

And whilst Garden City Plastics, Norwood and Polymer Processors, are driving the program, they’re quick to point out that they couldn’t achieve any of this without the support of the industry.

“The bins have been so well received, there’s been so much support for the program from industry. It really goes to show that horticulture is a sector that cares and wants to make a real difference. In Victoria we collected 4.5 tonnes of PP5 in May 2021, by August that year we’re over double that and by January 2022 we collected over 30 tonne.

That’s an awful lot of plastic that’s being diverted from landfill and best of all it’s being recycled back into plant pots to fill with beautiful plantlife.” Said Greg Carrick, Sales Manager Victoria and Tasmania, Garden City Plastics.

Sustainability will be a major focus, if not already, for every business in the near future. Along with growing media (soils, potting mixes etc.), fertilizer and chemical use, one of the inputs into the Australian Nursery Industry is the PP5 pot that carries the plant and label that identifies the product to the end user.

Garden City Plastics, Norwood, Polymer Processors are all excited by the opportunity to take more responsibility for the role they each play in the process, and to be a part of this great initiative and to exceed Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets.

Working side by side, together, on something as organisations, not because it is good business, but because it is the right thing to do, further stimulates this industry partnership towards the prevention of unnecessary landfill, for the benefit of all of us.

To recycle your used plastic pots and labels, head to the website www.pp5.com.au and search for a recycle bin in your location.

Velisha Farms Photo: Greg Carrick