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Recycling organisation, Replas, in partnership with Coles, RMIT University and the RED Group have researched and developed new recycling technology allowing one of the most problematic plastics to be converted into a highly valuable, fit for purpose resource.

The new Polyrok concrete technology is made from plastic bags and soft plastic packaging recovered from the REDcycle program, available in all Coles supermarkets, and acts as a sustainable alternative to aggregate minerals used in concrete.

More than 6.5 million pieces of soft plastic will be recycled in the largest-ever commercial application of Polyrok as part of a Coles supermarket development at Cobblebank in Melbourne’s west starting this week.

The technology has the potential to build a more circular economy and support future infrastructure projects, as only 10% of the 3.5 million tonnes of soft plastic thrown out by Australians each year is recycled, according to Clean Up Australia.

Coles State Construction Manager Victoria, Fiona Lloyd said Coles was looking at opportunities to use the new technology in future developments and notes “we collect roughly 30 million pieces of plastic every month through our customer REDcycle program, so there’s a huge opportunity to use Polyrok in other Coles developments or other construction projects.

“We’re really proud of the work we’ve put in with REDGroup, Replas and RMIT to invest and develop this important sustainable technology designed to reduce our environmental impact.

“This is just the beginning of what is possible – this project alone will help repurpose more than 6.5 million pieces of soft plastic from landfill.”

Replas Joint Managing Director Mark Jacobsen said the partnership had helped to develop a new way to recycle soft plastics advising “Replas has taken one of the most problematic plastics and turned it into a highly valuable, fit for purpose resource.

“We congratulate Coles for taking the steps towards a circular economy and for practicing sustainable procurement with Polyrok.”

RMIT University Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Senior Lecturer Dr Jonathan Tran added “we are proud to bring our expertise in civil and infrastructure engineering into the development of Polyrok. The testing has shown this sustainable aggregate is robust and fit for purpose.”

Coles first partnered with REDcycle and Replas in 2011 and was the first major Australian supermarket to have REDcycle bins in every supermarket.

The program now collects an average of 121 tonnes – roughly 30 million pieces of plastic every month – with more than 1.3 billion pieces of soft plastic from landfill diverted from landfall since 2011.

Last year, Replas developed a new product, the Recycled Plastic Sports Themed Seat, which is fully customisable to give the customer complete creative control and produced by recycling some of the most problematic soft plastics.

Replas also announced Polyrok Civil – a breakthrough that will find a home for post-consumer soft plastic material, as a partial replacement for aggregate in an array of concrete applications such as footpaths, curbing, landscaping and more. A one-kilometre footpath contains 875,000 plastic packages, diverted from landfill or from entering our waterways and oceans, and Replas is challenging every Council in Australia to get on board to be part of the solution for their plastic waste.

If each Council in Australia committed to just one kilometre of footpath, 1,900 tonnes of Polyrok (470 million pieces of soft plastic material) would permanently become part of the communities’ walkways.

Image top: The Coles Replas REDgroup Lanskey and RMIT teams behind the development of Polyrok; Image centre: This path at Coles' Cobblebank development is partly made from recycled plastic; Image above: Replas Sport themed seat

To contact Replas click here for their details in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory. 

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