Black plastic plant pots of which Bunnngs stores sell by the thousands throughout Australia - cannot be recycled in our kerbside bins.   Black plastic is rejected by the sorting machines and automatically goes into Land-fill.

Potting mix bags cannot be recycled either - people COULD once clean them, spend time cutting them into A3 sized sheets and put them in the soft plastic recycle bin at their local Coles (or Woolies) supermarket!

BUT now THAT no longer exists!

In the Coronavirus pandemic Wesfarmers, through its Bunnings stores has done exceedingly well from Australians.  As many clothing stores, beauty salons, department stores shut - Wesfarmers continued to prosper through its Coles, Officeworks and KMart stores.

Bunnings in particular absolutely thrived - most of us would have seen just how busy Bunnings remained in fact became massively even more popular - just by passing their local stores with bulging car parks.  As many people had more time on their hands they did home repairs and renovations, revamped their gardens, and often started planting and growing their own vegetables.

Bunnings which caused the demise of thousands of small family garden centres and hardware stores with its juggernaut of Bunnings stores - which were originally only intended as a major tax offset - also benefited greatly from Australian Government assistance given to Australians not able to work.

With many Australians having had lots of spare time and revamping their gardens - there were many THOUSANDS of extra plant pots, potting mix and mulch bags purchased in Australia - and nearly all of those ended up in our land-fill.

Now Australians need Wesfarmers to step-up - to think about the future for everyday Australians, their children and grand-children - not just their board members, executives and share holders.

Bunnings MUST provide recycling bins for plant pots and for mulch and potting mix bags at EVERY Bunnings store in Australia.

Councils and rate-payers must NOT be expected to bear the burden of Bunnings increased profits by increased land-fill and recycling costs - added onto their rates from dealing with mountains of plastic.  Wesfarmers must start giving back.

I know of only one Bunnings store in Australia - Cranbourne in Victoria who did a trial recycling program in 2017 in conjunction with Polymer Processes and Garden City Plastics.  Not being a Victorian - I am unsure if this became a permanent fixture.

But it's not all about profit - it's about giving back to those who have made Bunnings so successful.

Recycling plastic pots and bags should be the SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY of EVERY Bunnings store in Australia!

As it is - the ABC's War on Waste - proves that much of the recycling of soft plastics that Wesfarmers' Coles offered in its stores - was NEVER recycled and will most likely end up in OUR land-fill.

It's about time huge companies honoured their social contracts and showed their appreciation for all Australians by taking responsibility for the waste their businesses produce. 

They are also large enough to lobby the Federal and State Governments - as they do when it benefits them - to make changes that enable recycling and recycled products to actually prosper in Australia.

https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/the-state-of-australias-recycling-how-did-we-get-into-this-mess#gs.7miiuu

Who knows - genuinely supporting and sponsoring smaller businesses who recycle plastics and make recycled products so the products could be less expensive - could help make up for the THOUSANDS of small companies and family businesses who have met their demise at the hands of Bunnings' juggernaut..

What a worthwhile tax-offset that could be! 

We already know like most profitable businesses - including medium family businesses but especially huge conglomerates - that Wesfarmers employs those who KNOW how to increase their profits while minimising their tax in Australia!

But what about also doing it in a socially responsible way - helping to provide Australian jobs and decreasing mountains of plastic landfill in Australia!

Wesfarmers could CHOOSE to diversify into RECYCLING - after all Bunnings was intended to be a tax minimiser and turned out to be a most PROFITABLE venture - WHY NOT recycling plastics?

Wesfarmers could also eventually extend more recycling of plastics to their Officeworks stores as well - which no doubt have contributed to the demise of thousands of small newsagency businesses of which stationery was a major part -  throughout Australia.

If people support this petition - PLEASE sign and SHARE as much as you can.

Thank you