Follow the Plastic
Where does supermarket soft plastic packaging really go?
Soft plastic recycling should not be a black box.
Kids Against Plastic
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Kids Against Plastic
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Where does supermarket soft plastic packaging really go?
Soft plastic recycling should not be a black box.
Understand soft plastic packaging and recycling labels.
Soft plastic packaging is the flexible plastic used for many everyday products. You will find it around snacks, bread, frozen food, salad, pasta, rice, multipacks and refill pouches.
It is often light, bendy and easy to scrunch. That can make it harder to collect, sort and recycle than harder plastic items like bottles, tubs and trays.
Many labels now tell people to take soft plastic to supermarket collection points. That is useful to know, but it still leaves an important question:
What happens after collection?
Soft plastic is packaging you can usually scrunch, bend or fold in your hand.
Common examples include:
Most soft plastic cannot go into normal kerbside recycling, so people are often told to take it to supermarket collection points.
Understand what soft plastic packaging is, what recycling labels say, and why KAP is asking what happens after collection.
On this page
Soft plastic packaging
Recycling labels
Why it is difficult to recycle
Global Goals
Question to remember
Next step
Step 2 – Investigate
– Look at the evidence and AirTag findings.
Soft plastic packaging often has recycling labels that tell people where to take it.
You might see wording like:
Recycle with bags at large supermarkets
Don’t recycle at home
Recycle at large supemarkets
The wording can vary, but the message is usually the same: take this packaging to a supermarket collection point, not your kerbside recycling bin.
Soft plastic can be harder to recycle than rigid plastic because it is lightweight, flexible and often made from mixed materials.
It can be difficult to sort, difficult to clean and difficult to turn back into similar packaging.
That means soft plastic collected for recycling may have different outcomes. Some may be recycled. Some may be downcycled into lower-grade products. Some may be rejected, exported, used as fuel or burned for energy recovery.
The Global Goals are about creating a fairer, healthier and more sustainable world by 2030.
This campaign links most strongly to three goals KAP often focuses on.
This is the main link. Brands and retailers should be clear about the packaging they make, sell and collect.
If soft plastic is transported long distances, burned or turned into fuel, that has a climate link.
Soft plastic can cause harm if it escapes into rivers, drains or oceans.
The Global Goals are not just about knowing the problem. They are about finding out, telling others and taking action.
When soft plastic packaging says “recycle at supermarket”, what actually happens after collection?
That is the question behind Follow the Plastic.
Once you understand the issue, the next step is to look at the evidence.
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