Soft plastics recycling comes to Winchelsea
Published on 11 September 2026
Winchelsea residents can now recycle their soft plastics at the Winchelsea Transfer Station, thanks to a new 12-month trial aimed at making recycling easier for the local community.
It is the first time soft plastics have been collected at the Winchelsea Transfer Station, with a new small-scale compactor now in place.
The initiative started with a request from a Winchelsea local who asked Surf Coast Shire Council to provide a soft plastics recycling service at the transfer station.
Council’s main soft plastics collection is at the Anglesea Transfer Station, where larger equipment and dedicated infrastructure allow for higher volumes to be collected and processed.
Staff investigated whether a smaller system could provide a practical option for Winchelsea and have now leased a new compacting machine for 12 months to trial the service.
“We know recycling is important to our community, and we’re really pleased to be able to offer residents another way to keep materials out of landfill,” Cr Adrian Schonfelder said.
“This service came from a community request, and we’ve been able to find a new approach that could make soft plastics recycling work at a smaller transfer station.”
“We’ll see how the trial goes over the next 12 months and whether the service is working well for everyone,” he said.
Soft plastics are items that can be easily scrunched in your hand, including bread bags, chip packets, bubble wrap, plastic bags and cling film. They also include some thicker plastic items such as pet food bags, squeeze pouches and mesh produce bags used for items such as onions and oranges.
Once collected, the soft plastics are compacted into bales before being transported for processing and transformed into recycled plastic resin for use in new soft plastic packaging. Some materials can also undergo advanced recycling, where they are converted into oil that can be used to create food-grade plastic packaging.
700-plus feed bags recycled in six months through bagMUSTER program
The Winchelsea Transfer Station is also part of Council’s bagMUSTER recycling program, which has seen strong local uptake of feed bag recycling. Since the service was introduced at Winchelsea in March, residents have dropped off 713 feed bags for recycling.
Eligible bags must be made from woven polypropylene, such as those used for grain (excluding silo bags), stock feed, fertiliser, pet food and fire wood bags.
The bags collected through the program are recycled at a facility in Geelong, where the recovered plastic is processed into recycled pellets. These pellets can be used to manufacture new products, including plastic pallets, crates, plant pots and automotive components, giving the plastic a second life and supporting a circular economy. Circular economy principles being applied to reduce waste is a strategic direction of Council Plan 2025-29.
It’s free for residents to drop off their soft plastics and feed bags at the Winchelsea Transfer Station during opening hours:
- Tuesday and Thursday: 2pm to 4pm
- Saturday: 1.30pm to 3.30pm
- Sunday: 9.30am to 12.30pm