Recycling

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From creative couture to dopamine dressing: Australia’s growing upcycling movement

Australians are the biggest consumers of new clothes in the world but a new breed of upcyclers and “thrift flippers” is revealing another way to sartorial success.

  • Lauren Ironmonger

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The lifecycle of plastics, a modern wonder that is choking the planet

Recycling is billed as the holy grail of a circular economy, but experts agree: we can’t recycle our way out of the plastics crisis we’re creating.

  • Bianca Hall and Illustrations by Matt Willis
Beer bottles are lighter than they were 20 years ago because manufacturers are using less material.

Recyclers say a 10¢ container refund has no ‘pulling power’. They want it doubled

The beverage industry argues the push is out of touch on the cost of living. Yet everyone agrees that a nationally consistent approach is needed.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Eva, left, in ReLove’s Sydney warehouse, with co–founder Renuka Fernando.

Just like a real store, but everything is free for people doing it tough

ReLove Free Store is kitting out about 25 households a week, with furnishings worth $10,000 or more.

  • Jane Cadzow
Recycling story

I’m in the self-care aisle at Woolies, but I’m not here to buy shampoo. I’m on a covert mission

This masthead sent a packaging expert images of products with recycling symbols and labels. None were recyclable in Australia.

  • Hannah Kennelly
Sinking boats and Jonathan Frearson.

Sydney Harbour’s shameful secret – and a boat dealer in the spotlight

The bane of environmentalists and the scourge of maritime authorities, Jonathan Frearson is a dealer with a difference.

  • Harriet Alexander
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A collector returning cans and bottles for recycling in Sydney.

Those collectors rummaging through our bins? Our recycling system relies on them

The Return and Earn scheme has dramatically cut litter while boosting recycling, but are the environmental benefits coming at a social cost?

  • Cindy Yin and Caitlin Fitzsimmons

New French laws have put ultra-fast fashion companies on notice. Should we follow suit?

In a world first, France has legislated to tax fast fashion brands, but Australia continues to lag behind other countries in addressing fashion waste. Why is this?

  • Lauren Ironmonger
James Dorney, chief executive of Tomra Cleanaway, which manages the NSW container return scheme, at a sorting plant at Eastern Creek.

Australian container return schemes are a booming good news story

Unlike efforts to recycle soft plastics, container deposit schemes have been a success across Australia, with billions of bottles recycled.

  • Nick O'Malley and Bianca Hall
The James Brown campaign truck dumping corflutes at a Sydney tip in May 2025.

We can have democracy without the plastic waste

Corflutes are fully recyclable, but signs from the 2025 election are already winding up in landfill or as litter.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons