The enviro-tech pioneers trying to shift Australia off plastics

Australians use 3.8 million tonnes of plastic each year and dispose of about 2.7 million tonnes, about 50 times the weight of the Sydney Harbour Bridge each year. 

And we only recycle 13% of it. From sunglasses made from plastic bottles and credit cards made from recycled plastics to surf wax combs made from seaweed, a whole ecosystem of innovative startups is trying to help us do better.

Today, on Earth Day, SmartCompany highlights some of these environmental champions.

Planet vs Plastics

Marked on April 22 since 1970, Earth Day demonstrates support for environmental protection. Coordinated globally by earthday.org, this year’s official theme is ‘Planet vs Plastics’.

In the wake of the calamitous collapse of soft plastic recycler REDcycle in November 2022, consumer confidence in Australia’s recycling industry hit rock bottom. 

Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek put supermarkets, plastics manufacturers, and the tyre industry on notice that she will not hesitate to regulate if progress is not quickly made to improve recycling rates, saying consumers who had trudged their soft plastics to supermarkets for recycling “have every right to feel cheated”.

In July 2023, the federal government launched a new $60 million fund for hard-to-recycle plastics, including soft plastics like shopping bags, bread bags, cling wrap and chip packets, in an attempt to speed up a shift away from virgin plastics, towards a circular economy.

A trial replacement scheme is currently underway in Melbourne supermarkets intending, once again, to provide customers with an in-store option for recycling “scrunchable” food packaging.

But in the meantime, almost all  – 93% by one count – of our soft plastics is going to landfill. 

Pretty depressing. But elsewhere there is exciting innovation. 

Good Citizens

With its mission to “untrash the planet” Sydney-based eyewear company Good Citizens has been turning plastic into sunglasses since 2018. Each pair of sunglasses sold uses the equivalent of 3.5 plastic bottles to make the frame, case and cloth, stopping 500g of plastic trash from reaching the ocean and preventing 10kg of CO2 from reaching the atmosphere.

Working with PlasticBank to trace the plastic it uses, Good Citizens has so far turned the equivalent of 335,400 plastic bottles into sunnies. And ensuring sustainability claims stack up is high priority for Good Citizens founder Nik Robinson.

“Many brands may say their product is recycled even though it’s made with only 5% recycled material and 95% virgin materials, not 100% recycled like our Good Citizens frames. It’s getting better and the ACCC is starting to clamp down on greenwashing.”

Great Wrap

Last year Melbourne-based Great Wrap launched the world’s first compostable pallet wrap, after raising $24 million to ‘completely knock petroleum plastic off the supermarket shelf’.

After launching in the home with its ‘nudie roll’ compostable cling wrap subscription service, Great Wrap is now pushing into the B2B market. 

“Some of the businesses that were coming to us were iconic Australian brands that we all know and love, so that was really good to see,” said Julia Kay, co-founder of Great Wrap. 

About 100,000 tonnes of traditional plastic wrap winds up in landfill each year. And that’s just in Australia. A big part of that is pallet wrap being an integral part of global supply chains.

Nuffin

Approximately 2000 tonnes of Australian supermarket dip fridge plastic end up in landfills or waterways each year. 

The founder of Australia’s first range of dips packaged in compostable paper tubs is aiming to slash plastic waste from Australian supermarket dip fridges by 300 tonnes by 2030. 

“The typical plastic dip container weighs around 18 grams,” said Haydn Scott. “So, every time a customer purchases a Nuffin tub, we’re saving 18 grams of plastic from entering the waste stream.”

Nuffin is committed to giving sustainably aware consumers a viable alternative.

Refilled

Smart drink dispenser Refilled aims to eliminate 100 million plastic bottles by 2030 to reduce single-use plastic bottle waste caused by the $44 billion global vending industry. 

“Refilled is transforming the ordinary, everyday act of drinking water into climate action,” said founder Ryan Nelson. 

“Most people have good intentions and want to do good for the planet, but not everyone can afford to buy an electric vehicle or install solar panels.” 

More than 891 billion single-use plastic bottles are produced worldwide every year and less than 20% are ever recycled, which makes vending machines a major source of plastic pollution. 

Refilled aims to build and install 100 Refillers by 2024, stopping more than one million single-use plastic bottles ending up in the ocean or landfills every year.

Samsara Eco

Enviro-tech Samsara Eco is creating Australia’s first infinite recycling R&D hub at Queanbeyan near Canberra, as it works towards achieving its key milestone of recycling 1.5 million tonnes of plastic per annum by 2030.

“Plastic is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and provides enormous utility because of its durability, flexibility and strength,” said Samsara Eco founder Paul Riley.

“Yet, plastic is an environmental disaster, with almost every piece of the 9 billion tonnes ever made still on the planet.”

Samsara Eco is already working with a range of prominent partners, including Lululemon and Woolworths Group.

“The three key sectors we’re focused on are fashion, automotive and packaging,” said Riley. 

Samsara Eco is developing products to replace fossil fuel plastics in partners’ supply chains.

Uluu

In January, Perth biotech startup Uluu launched its first commercial product in collaboration with iconic surf brand Quiksilver. A new run of the brand’s boardshorts features wax combs made from Uluu’s seaweed-based alternative to plastic.

Uluu co-founder and ocean scientist Dr Julia Reisser said the symbolic importance of these combs as a step towards replacing traditional plastics with more sustainable materials.

“They’re small, limited items, yet super meaningful. They represent our first step towards replacing plastic with materials that are good for the world,” Dr Reisser said.

“Having a plastic-like natural material that’s durable, yet recyclable and compostable, is incredibly exciting. It opens up a range of new possibilities in circular business models across many industries.”