Product stewardship
Efficient and industry-leading product stewardship seeks to ensure materials that are placed on the market for sale are returned and recycled for new products in the most streamlined manner even when they fall outside Coles’ direct operations.
Coles supports industry-led programs by providing collection points at many of its supermarkets and liquor stores through partnerships with scheme operators, and by promoting customer participation through education and awareness initiatives. These programs provide customers with practical options to recycle products after use.
Battery recycling, soft plastics and container deposit schemes are key areas of focus, and we work with partners to improve the availability and convenience of these programs for our customers across Australia.
Soft PlasticsCollapsed
We know many of our customers want the opportunity to recycle soft plastic packaging and bags. To date there have been limited facilities and markets to process soft plastics at scale.
In FY25, Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA) was created to lead a national stewardship program. In November 2025, it received ACCC approval for an eight-year authorisation to handle collection and processing of material, with plans to include kerbside and more drop-off options over time.
Coles collaborates with SPSA and other industry partners to support a national approach to recycling soft plastics, noting there are several challenges at present, including the inherently low value and high cost to reprocess soft plastic material, as well as limited processing capacity in the domestic market. These challenges underscore the need for investment in large scale, national collection and recycling solutions. Coles will continue to look at opportunities to reduce unnecessary soft plastics where practicable and improve packaging design. For information about the Soft Plastics Recycling Trial in select Melbourne stores, please refer to our Q&ASoft Plastics Questions and Answers, file size 89KB.
Battery collectionCollapsed
Coles is an accredited participant of the Battery Stewardship Council Scheme, B-Cycle, launched in Australia in 2022. We currently have 850 household battery recycling bins across our supermarket network to provide customers with a safe, convenient, and effective way to recycle batteries, reduce household waste and prevent potentially hazardous materials from entering landfills.
During FY26, more than 370 tonnes of used batteries were returned to Coles stores by customers.
Container deposit schemeCollapsed
With Container Deposit Schemes (CDS) now available in all states and territories there are now more than 260 container return sites linked to Coles stores nationally. Consumers depositing containers at these locations can receive vouchers redeemable in Coles supermarkets1, including self-checkouts from 11 August 2026.
(L-R, Tony Catania, Victorian General Manager, TOMRA Cleanaway, Matt Davis, CEO, VicReturn, Danielle Natividad, Store Manager, Coles Avondale Heights, Premier of Victoria and Member for Niddrie, the Hon Ben Carroll, Shae Courtney, Group Circularity Strategy Manager, Coles, Trent Marshall, National Operations Manager, Liuzzi Group at Coles Avondale Heights new Container Deposit Return point).
1 Reverse Vending Machine sites, linked to Coles stores, are only available in Victoria, Tasmania, WA, NSW and Queensland.
