More Australians are paying to recycle their unwanted goods that can't be included in kerbside recycling.
Since launching its pick-up service two years ago, Upparel has collected more than 100,000 boxes of unwanted clothes from households around Australia.
Despite being able to throw them away at no cost or find a free drop-off point, customers choose to pay $25 per box for Upparel to collect, sort and either redistribute what is still fit to wear and break the rest down into fibres for filling pillows, insulation and furniture.
"I think a lot of customers are recognising that sustainability does come at a cost. It's people stepping up and going 'well I want to do the right thing'," Upparel founder Michael Elias told ABC Radio Sydney.
Mr Elias says demand is increasing with requests for household pick-ups growing 20 per cent each quarter.
"Our growth is definitely telling us people are taking responsibility for the end of life of their products."
While Upparel focuses on textiles, RecycleSmart and TerraCycle are among other commercial businesses giving individuals and companies the option to recycle a range of products from coffee pods and toothbrushes to styrofoam and old toys without leaving home.
Taking control
While 90 per cent of RecycleSmart's 25,000 users sign up for a free monthly pick-up, about 10 per cent pay $10 for an irregular pick-up.
Chief marketing officer Eugenie Alonzo says the business plans to expand its user-pay options.
"People are wanting to do the correct thing but don't really know how to do it," she said.
After trialling a pay-to-collect "clunky cardboard" service in Randwick Council in Sydney's east, it's rolling it out across the city from this week.
The business is also preparing to launch other services where customers would pay for electronics such as microwaves that don't fit in a shopping bag to be picked up and recycled or large amounts of bottles and cans with the funds from the return-and-earn scheme donated to charity.
Ms Alonzo said the effects of climate change and the action required is "overwhelming", but reducing their waste gives people a sense of control.
Combined with scepticism about what happens to kerbside recycling and the convenience of not having to go to multiple drop-off points makes it worth paying for in customers' eyes.
"We are in a century of convenience, where we can get our meals delivered, we can do online shopping, people are used to paying extra for convenience," Ms Alonzo said.
Transparency critical
The collapse of Australia's largest soft plastic recycling company REDcycle has exacerbated consumer scepticism about what happens to products once they are picked up.
RecycleSmart, which previously used REDcycle, was flooded with questions from customers after it was revealed last month that soft plastic items collected had been stockpiled for months and the program was suspended.
Ms Alonzo said REDcycle's collapse was a "wake-up call for the whole industry" and showed the importance of doing due diligence on all its partners.
Upparel's Michael Elias said "transparency and traceability is at the centre of what we do".
Upparel and TerraCycle use regular behind-the-scenes videos as well as tangible examples of products made with recycled items to build confidence.
"As a consumer you have to spend time, sorting, setting it aside, taking up space in your house … you have nothing to gain except doing the right thing," Terracycle Australia general manager Jean Billiard said. "So if they think it's not having an impact, they will stop collecting."
Cost of recycling the unrecyclable
Thirty per cent of the 6,000 Zerowaste boxes collected by Terracycle in 2022 came from Australian households, but at up to $275 for an all-in-one box it's not a realistic option for most.
Mr Billiard stressed that there are many free drop off points due to their partnerships with major Australian companies including department stores and pharmacies.
He said the cost reflects the resources that go into sorting, storing and recycling what are often considered unrecyclable like wine bottle corks, stationary, safety equipment, plastic packaging and pet products.
"The reasons why those products are not accepted in the kerbside recycling is usually for the waste management company, it costs them more to collect and recycle than the value they get at the end."
For example, coffee capsules need to be manually sorted and the grounds removed, before they can be shredded and components reused.
Dr Trevor Thornton, Deakin University lecturer on waste management, said it was not unreasonable for consumers to pay for recycling.
"The notion of more boutique collection systems for items that councils, for whatever reason, won't be able to collect mainly because of the sorting facilities, is a good option and as consumers it's something that we need to pay for," Dr Thornton told Mornings presenter Rod Quinn.
He also argued for a rethink of the garbage collection system and an increase in the number of drop-off points to make it easy for people to drop off their unwanted goods for recycling.
