Northern Territory · Darwin
Soft plastics recycling in NT
In the Northern Territory, as at September 2026, no soft plastics collection scheme operates. Bread bags, pasta packets, bubble wrap and courier satchels go in the general waste bin, never the recycling bin. Woolworths states its in-store soft plastics collection is not yet viable in the NT, and no NT store appears in the participating store list.
Sources Woolworths: soft plastics recyclingWaste Management Strategy for the Northern Territory 2015–2022 (NT EPA)
What do I do with soft plastics in the NT?
- The scrunch test If it scrunches in your fist and stays scrunched, it's a soft plastic — bread bags, pasta packets, bubble wrap, courier satchels.
- Never the recycling bin Soft plastics are the single biggest contaminant in kerbside recycling in Australia.
- Realistically, in your state Woolworths, which hosts the national soft-plastics bins with Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia, says collection is not yet viable in WA, the NT or Tasmania, or in some regional areas elsewhere. The general waste bin is the official advice where no scheme operates.
As at September 2026 there is no supermarket soft-plastics collection operating in the NT. Soft plastics go in the general waste bin.
Nearest drop-off: NT EPA — container refund depots (refund points only)
Can I put soft plastics in the recycling bin in the NT?
No. Soft plastics are the single biggest contaminant in Australian kerbside recycling, and they wrap around sorting machinery until someone cuts them out by hand. In the Northern Territory they go in the general waste bin. Kerbside recycling is not available everywhere in the NT either, so check what your council actually collects before you sort anything into a second bin.
Is there a soft plastics drop-off in Darwin?
Not as at September 2026. Woolworths hosts in-store soft plastics bins at more than 700 stores in partnership with Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia, but says collection is not yet viable in the Northern Territory, Western Australia or Tasmania, or in some regional areas. No Territory store appears in the participating list, and no Coles or ALDI collection point is published here.
How do I tell a soft plastic from a hard one?
Scrunch a piece and open your hand. Soft plastic stays balled up and goes in the general waste bin. Hard plastic springs back or keeps its shape, and that is the sort the recycling bin wants.
What can I do about soft plastics apart from the bin?
Buy less of it. Loose fruit and vegetables, bread from a bakery in a paper bag, a reusable produce bag, refills rather than new packets. Bread bags make decent bin liners on the second run. None of that is satisfying, but with no collection scheme operating in the Northern Territory it is the only thing that changes the volume.
Need it gone this week?
Compare council collection, recycling and pickup options on the skip bin hire page for Darwin.