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Single-use Plastic FAQs - Recycling

Recycling and Disposal

  • Why can’t single-use plastic products be recycled through existing collection systems?

    The single-use and other plastic products listed in the legislation are often used away from home and thrown away after a brief use. These are prone to entering the litter stream, most cannot be recycled through conventional systems, and have wasted the embodied resources that have been invested in their production.

    A large number of plastic containers can be recycled through yellow-lidded kerbside recycling bins, however items such as plastic straws, cutlery and stirrers, and polystyrene food service items cannot be recycled through kerbside recycling bins either because these are difficult to recycle (e.g. expanded polystyrene), or are too small for recycling machinery (e.g. straws, cutlery and stirrers).

    Advice on what can and cannot be placed in kerbside recycling bins is available at www.whichbin.sa.gov.au  or from the Which Bin hotline, 1300 137 118.