Long wait to unwrap soft plastics recycling disaster

They warn it will be a slow, staged process.

It's hoped a pilot scheme at a select number of stores will be operating "from late 2023".

But that is "contingent on the ability to clear REDcycle's existing stockpiles of soft plastic", which Coles and Woolworths recently promised to deal with.

They are looking to ship that waste overseas.

"Should new domestic processing capacity be taken up by the estimated 12,000 tonnes of stockpiled material for at least a year, the recommencement of in-store collections will be delayed,'' the supermarkets said.

"Accordingly, Coles and Woolworths intend to work through options to export the stockpiles to trusted recycling facilities overseas with the necessary transparency, traceability and government approvals.

"This would allow access to advanced recycling beyond Australia's existing domestic capabilities."

The private company behind the REDcycle program is being wound up after it emerged plastics consumers returned to grocery stores had been stockpiled, not recycled.

REDcycle has denied being involved in a cover up, saying it was holding onto the waste while trying to ride out problems including a lack of recycling capacity in Australia.

The three grocery chains, who formed a taskforce after REDcycle collapsed, have warned a lack of capacity will mean a slow restart.

"At present, it would not be possible to recycle the volume of household soft plastics collected in a supermarket program using domestic infrastructure,'' they said.

"Accordingly, the task force has plotted out the projected gradual increase in Australian soft plastic recycling capacity over the next year, as new operators launch, and existing processors expand."

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has welcomed the plan but says the real solution is to produce and use less plastic.

She says the government is investing heavily in new recycling infrastructure for hard to recycle plastics, including soft plastics.