Bulk Nutrients is a REDcycle Partner!
Why is recycling soft plastics so important?
Recycling helps to protect the environment and support sustainability for generations to come. As a society, we produce a lot of waste products and recycling gives them a second life (and many more!).
As you probably know, waste has a negative impact on the natural environment. Why, you ask?
When you take your council rubbish bin out for collection each week, the contents are sent to landfill sites which release some really harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses.
When you recycle waste instead, it reduces the need for extracting from the environment (mining, quarrying, and logging), and refining and processing raw materials, which create substantial air and water pollution.
As recycling saves energy, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps tackle climate change.
When you recycle soft plastics you can help...
- Reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites and incinerators.
- Provide a new use for a previous ‘waste' product.
- Conserve natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
- Reduce pollution by decreasing the need to collect new raw materials.
Overall, the act of recycling helps to save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change, and we think that's pretty darn important!
Bulk Nutrients' Partnership With REDcycle
We wanted to take our passion for sustainability a step further, which is why we joined the REDcycle program initially, to promote the work they were doing for environmental sustainability.
The REDcycle Program was developed by Melbourne-based consulting and recycling organisation RED Group as a recovery initiative for post-consumer soft plastic.
They teamed up with Coles and Woolworths (as drop off points) as well Australia's favourite brands (like us!) for support in keeping plastic bags and soft plastic packaging out of landfills.
When soft plastics were dropped off, they were taken to Replas who completely transformed them into a variety of products from outdoor furniture and decking to road base products and even outdoor gyms and parks!
How recyclable is Bulk Nutrients' packaging?
Very! All of our packaging can be recycled, just using different ways.
Some packaging is fine to be put straight into your council recycling bin.
With the REDcycle program cancelled, the items that were accepted into the program may not be able to be recycled. Check with your local council to see if they're accepted, otherwise until an alternative program is established they'll need to go into your waste bin.
Items that can be REDcycled
- Powdered product in soft zip-seal pouches eg. Proteins, Amino Acids and CarbohydratesÂ
- Single-serve sample packaging eg. Quick Protein Pancakes, Quick Protein Oats, Protein Sample etc
Hard plastic items that can go in your household recycling bin
- The 30g orange scoops in your protein pouches
- All capsule bottles
- Shakers
Most other hard plastics can go into your kerbside recycling, just check your local council website for info on what can go in your council bin and what you may need to take elsewhere for recycling.
Two years on with REDcycle
In January 2022 Bulk Nutrients celebrated three years of partnership with the REDcycle program.
Since making the change, every bag that has left the warehouse in Tasmania could be dropped off at any REDcycle collection point Australia wide and recycled into a variety of useful outdoor products.
Click the link if you want to find out more about all the great Replas products made from your recycling.
We're committed to cutting our waste
As a further commitment to reducing plastic waste in landfills, more than 225,000 5ml plastic spoons were removed from our products.
For more information about the steps, we are taking to become a more sustainable company, check out Bulk Nutrients Packaging Sustainability Strategy.
REDcycle's continual growth over the last decade
In 2021 REDcycle celebrated 10 years since it launched in 2011 in 100 Melbourne Coles stores. Over that decade, REDcycle increased the number of drop off points from the original 100 to over 1800 REDcycle drop off points across Australia.
The number of REDcycle Program Partners has increased from ten in 2012 to over 139 as of February 2021.
In the year 2020 alone, REDcycle recovered, recycled, and diverted 4,231 tonnes of soft plastic– that’s over 1 billion pieces - from landfills.
- That’s the equivalent of 1,080 elephants.
- Or enough soft plastic packaging to circle the world approximately 6.5 times.
That is a 2139% increase from their first year!
Australian consumers were returning over 2 million pieces of packaging to REDcycle bins every day! Now that's pretty amazing.
Replas introduces Polyrok concrete!
An exciting innovation from Replas is their Polyrok concrete which permanently removes soft plastic from landfills to be used as an alternative to mineral aggregate in concrete for pathways, kerbs, and channels.
To find out more check out Replas and Polyrok!
