Western Australia · Perth
Soft plastics recycling in WA
In Western Australia, as at September 2026, there is no supermarket soft-plastics collection scheme operating. Bread bags, pasta packets, bubble wrap and courier satchels go in the red-lid general waste bin. Never put them in the yellow-lid recycling bin: soft plastics wrap around the sorting machinery and shut the facility down while someone cuts them out by hand.
Sources Recycle Right WAWoolworths: soft plastics recycling program
What do I do with soft plastics in WA?
- 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 WA. Soft plastics go in the general waste bin.
Nearest drop-off: Recycle Right — find my nearest
Can I put soft plastics in the recycling bin in WA?
No. Soft plastics are the single biggest contaminant in Australian kerbside recycling. In WA they go in the red-lid general waste bin, which is also the official Recycle Right advice where no scheme operates.
Is there a soft plastics drop-off in Perth?
Not as at September 2026. Woolworths hosts the national soft-plastics bins with Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia at more than 700 stores, but says collection is not yet viable in WA, the NT or Tasmania. If a Perth store starts one, only clean, dry plastics go in it.
How do I tell a soft plastic from a hard one?
The scrunch test. If it scrunches in your fist and stays scrunched, it is a soft plastic. If it springs back or holds its shape, like a yoghurt tub or a milk bottle, it is a hard plastic and goes in the yellow-lid bin.
What can I do about soft plastics apart from the bin?
Use less of it: loose fruit and vegetables, bread in a paper bag, a reusable produce bag. Reuse bread bags as bin liners. It is not glamorous, but in WA today it does more than any drop-off.
Need it gone this week?
Compare council collection, recycling and pickup options on the skip bin hire page for Perth.