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Soft plastic recycling

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We've introduced soft plastic recycling units in selected food stores!


Thanks to our scheme, you can say goodbye to binning your bread bags or chucking your chocolate wrappers.

These recycling units provide a means to dispose of your soft plastics in a way that’s both good for the environment and accessible.

It doesn’t matter what retailer or brand the plastic is from, if it’s clean and ‘scrunchy’, it’s welcome in our bins.

Examples of acceptable plastic film include cereal box liners, ready-meal lids or pizza wrappers.

Just follow these three simple steps to get started:

  1. Clean it – Rinse your packaging out.
  2. Scrunch it – Scrunch it up tight - if it pings back into shape, it’s a useful indicator it's soft plastic.
  3. Co-op it - Pop it into our soft plastics recycling unit at a Lincolnshire Co-op near you.

The soft plastics we collect in our stores are recycled in the UK. The materials are turned into plastic granules and used to make things such as bin liners, rigid products such as buckets, and materials for the construction industry.

Find out more about the scheme led by our buying group.

The majority of our food stores (87) have these units available. Six stores are unable to offer the service at the moment, due to their size and layout, and you can find these listed below.


  • Barnbygate Food Store
  • Springfield Road Food Store
  • Tealby Street Food Store
  • Coniston Avenue Food Store
  • Crisps, nuts, snack bags
  • Bread bags
  • Produce bags
  • Ordinary carrier bags, not compostable
  • Wrappers around kitchen towel and toilet roll
  • Bags that nappies come in
  • Bags from cotton wool
  • Cereal box liners
  • Bags from frozen foods
  • Bags from ice cubes
  • Lids on yogurts, cream, desserts
  • Lids from packs of meat
  • Ready meals lids
  • Film from cheese packs
  • Wrapping around chicken
  • Fruit and veg flow wrap
  • Chocolate wrappers
  • Croissant, pancake, crumpet, etc wrappers
  • Biscuit wrappers
  • Wrappers from cakes
  • Yorkshire pudding wrappers
  • Bags from dried fruit, sugar, pulses, rice and pasta
  • Protective wrappers from gift wrap
  • Bags from gift tags
  • Pastry packaging
  • Bags from household textiles and similar such as the wrappers from all-purpose cloths, dusters, dishcloths, rubber gloves, scourers etc.
  • Wrappers from pet food
  • Wrappers from pies, pasties and sausage rolls
  • Bagged sweets wrappers
  • Pizza wrappers
  • Bags from porridge, muesli pouches
  • Packaging from baby wipes and similar

And more! Remember- a simple test is to scrunch it up and if it pings back, it’s a useful indicator it's soft plastic.

Soft Plastic Recycling Bin Landscape2
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