What we’re doing about the soft plastics problem
As consumers, we’ve been pretty good in regard to soft plastics. No one in our team can remember the last time they didn’t have a chaotic array of unbagged fruit and vegetables rolling off the self-serve checkout. We’ve been collecting bundles of bags, wrappers and bindings in our office and occasionally from our neighbours for years and dropping them at the supermarket. But when we heard about SCRUNCH PLASTIC in 2020 we got excited.
Over 80% of litter in the ocean is made from plastic - Tangaroa Blue Foundation
SCRUNCH PLASTIC is a female-lead sustainability startup based in Malabar in Sydney’s aquatic east. Although there has been a number of supporting roles played, including one by us, SCRUNCH is a one-woman-power-performance. Currently in Australia, soft-plastics recycling is a dedicated task for the conscious consumer who will collect, bundle and drop their ‘scrunchables’ in a RedCycle bin at a local supermarket like Coles or Woolies. What scrunch does is disrupt this reasonably new process with a home pick up service. It’s OzHarvest meets soft plastic recycling. Since the first ever Scrunch pick up, in July 2020, when 10 random people from the ‘Maroubra Locals’ Facebook group volunteered offer their trash to a stranger, the word has been spreading and Scrunch founder, Bronte Abrahams, has had to literally pump the breaks to keep a manageable subscriber base. Bronte can be seen in her (first of many, we’re sure) van which she bought for it’s comfort as a camper but now fills with piles of post-consumer low-density polyethylene.
But where does all of the plastic go?
Currently, plans are underway to use the plastics to make chic plant pots for the consumer market. Prototyping and testing is underway with support from the UNSW MCIC Makerspace and Bronte says “Once prototypes are established we are moving towards finding manufacturing facility so we can scale”. This was quickly followed with a familiar easement, “The post would have been ready already but this second lockdown has put another 6 months on the process” says Bronte.
UNSW MCIC Makerspace - Image credit: Jack Barton
That’s a win for SCRUNCH, a win for soft plastics and a win for the planet...
Green Island Creative Creative has been proud to offer support to SCRUNCH (we do this as part of our social and environmental impact strategy, read more about that here). We’ve assisted with product development, connecting stakeholders and offering creative and strategic advice. To be honest, we’ve often found ourselves doing a bit of general cheerleading because we really believe in the concept at large.
Recently, we were thrilled to support Bronte and SCRUNCH as they prepared for the Shark-Tank-esque sustainability pitch night, put together by the UNSW Founders Program and supported by the James N. Kirby Foundation. Put up against a convincing array of sustainably-minded startups, SCRUNCH reflected in the glow of the ZOOM call and came home with proof of concept, market confirmation of the concept and the peoples choice award of $500, which Bronte tells us is earmarked for “It will go towards finalising the prototypes”. Bronte closed our chat with excitement about the award win saying “it confirms what I already thought, which is that people care and want to vote with their money and support sustainable products”.
About SCRUNCH PLASTIC
Pictured: SCRUNCH founder Bronte with official brand mascot Coogee… Get it… Bronte and Coogee. It’s almost too awesome.
If you want to stay in the loop and support SCRUNCH or (if you’re in Sydney’s east) subscribe to the service go to the SCRUNCH PLASTIC website, follow them on Insta and LinkedIn.
Update 17 January 2023
In the lead up to the folding of the national soft plastics recycling program Redcycle in November 2022, Bronte paused the Scrunch collection program in Sydney’s eastern suburbs to take time out for reflection, and further research and development. The hunt for a viable end product / market for recycled soft plastics continues, but there are also hopes for the development of new models and technologies in Australia such as plastic eating super-enzymes or extended producer responsibility schemes.
Ultimately however, the most desirable outcome will be to focus on reducing our soft plastic consumption altogether, and diverting to alternative packaging solutions.
More about Bio Plastics…
From sushi to skincare, here are some seriously smart uses for seaweed, including bio plastic packaging!