Recycling Plastics Australia’s collapse ends 14,000T soft plastics project

AUSTRALIA – Recycling Plastics Australia has entered voluntary administration, placing 60 Adelaide jobs and a US$40 million government-backed soft plastics recycling project in jeopardy, as industry leaders warn that the collapse is the direct consequence of failed national packaging reform.

The Kilburn-based processor, which turns mixed rigid plastics into granulated and pelletised feedstock, appointed Tim Mableson and Edward ‘Ned’ Swifte of KPMG as administrators on 31 August 2026, with the first creditors’ meeting scheduled for 10 September 2026. 

The administration has also cast uncertainty over a planned advanced mechanical recycling facility intended to handle 14,000 tonnes of soft plastics annually. 

The Australian Government had provided A$20 million (US$14.3 million) to that project in July 2024 under the Recycling Modernisation Fund’s Plastics Technology stream. 

The overall development was estimated at A$40 million and was forecast to generate 45 positions. 

Recyclers ‘Devastated’ as Federal Government Delays Packaging Reform

The Australian Council of Recycling’s CEO, Suzanne Toumbourou, stated that the administration reflected more than a year of warnings about the financial position of plastics recyclers and follows the government’s decision not to introduce a new Commonwealth packaging scheme during its current term. 

“For over a year, we have been very clear that the viability of Australia’s plastic recycling sector—particularly those managing plastic packaging, is on an unsustainable trajectory,” Toumbourou said. 

“It is devastating to be watching this slow-moving crisis materialise, and baffling that the government would not move to support this industry.”  

The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia called the collapse an “inflection point,” with CEO Gayle Sloan stating that recyclers invest millions in Australian facilities and jobs while processing an ever-growing volume of plastic and competing against cheap virgin and imported recycled materials. 

RPA had been allocated A$8.89 million through an earlier government recycling infrastructure funding round in 2021. 

The proposed soft plastics facility was intended to wash and refine shopping bags, food wrappers, chip packets and other flexible plastic items, creating material that could later be used in fresh packaging products. 

The collapse follows more than a year of warnings about the financial position of plastics recyclers, with the Australian Council of Recycling stating that the viability of the sector is on an unsustainable trajectory. 

Administrators have begun an immediate review of the businesses’ finances and day-to-day operations.

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