Big Bag Recovery

What Big Bag Recovery does

Big Bag Recovery (BBR) is the Australian Government Accredited Product Stewardship scheme for plastic bags over 15kg/l of contents, covering woven polypropylene (wPP) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sacks and bulk bags. The company was founded in 2015 by Stephen Richards as Farm Waste Recovery and received Federal accreditation in March 2021, evolving into Big Bag Recovery under the Industry Waste Recovery parent group. BBR operates a national collection partner network spanning every Australian local government area, collecting bags directly from businesses (factories, farms, mines) and through council and community drop-off facilities. Sister company Circular Communities Australia runs Australia's first purpose-built big bag recycling plant in Toowoomba, Queensland (2,300 sqm, opened February 2025), which transforms collected wPP and LDPE bags into recycled resin pellets that are manufactured into new products including water evaporation discs and community/school seating.

BBR serves three distinct customer segments: brand owners, importers and manufacturers of bulk bags (the primary segment and fee-paying entities), distributors, and end users of bulk bags. The business model is a subscription-style uniform license and recovery fee charged to brand owners on multi-year contracts, covering collection, processing, reporting, and accreditation. Fees are set based on recovery and program costs; brand owners may absorb the cost or pass it onto consumers, while end-user drop-off is free. Members receive live dashboards tracking CO2e reduction, landfill cost savings, and circular economy jobs created, supported by GPS, photo evidence, and video feeds of processing. The company's regulatory value proposition is anchored in compliance with the National Environmental Protection (used packaging) Measure 2011, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, the National Plastics Plan 2021, and the National Waste Action Plan 2019, with non-compliance penalties for brand owners reaching up to AUD $3.2 million and/or five years imprisonment in some states. BBR is privately held, headquartered in Canberra, with 51–100 employees across the group.

Cumulatively, the program has recovered over 9.4 million kg of plastic, achieved approximately 13.8 million kg of CO2e reduction, generated $23.6 million in landfill cost savings, and supported 94 circular economy jobs. The Toowoomba facility alone diverts around 4,000 tonnes of waste and prevents over 5,871 tonnes of CO2e per year. The company holds 2025 Telstra Best of Business Awards in the ACT for Embracing Innovation and Promoting Sustainability, and maintains alliance partnerships with APCO, Australian Beverages, Clean Up Australia, the University of Tasmania (methodology validation), Endeavour Foundation, and The Flagstaff Group.

Name

Big Bag Recovery

Legal name

Big Bag Recovery

Website

https://bigbagrecovery.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Big Bag Recovery operates Australia's only Government Accredited Product Stewardship scheme for industrial plastic bulk bags and sacks, serving brand owners, importers, and manufacturers with national collection, processing into recycled resin pellets via sister company Circular Communities Australia, and validated compliance and impact reporting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Canberra

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Product Stewardship License and Recovery Fees: BBR charges the responsible entity (brand owners) on a license and recovery basis using a uniform pricing model based on recovery and program costs. Brand owners may absorb the cost or pass it onto their consumers. Fees cover the full program including collection, processing, reporting, and accreditation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Big Bag Recovery operates an Australian Government Accredited Product Stewardship scheme that collects woven polypropylene (wPP) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic bags over 15kg/l of contents (sacks and bulk bags) from brand owners, importers, manufacturers, distributors, and end users across Australia. Sister company Circular Communities Australia processes the collected bags at Australia's first purpose-built big bag recycling plant in Toowoomba, Queensland, converting them into recycled resin pellets and new products such as water evaporation discs and community/school seating. The program delivers members a national collection network, live impact dashboards (CO2e reduction, landfill cost savings, circular economy jobs), regulatory compliance documentation under NEPM and the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, and free drop-off for end users.

Product overview

Big Bag Recovery operates a single unified product stewardship program for plastic bags over 15kg/l of contents (sacks and bulk bags). The core Big Bag Recovery Program collects wPP and LDPE bags through a national collection network, providing brand owners with regulatory compliance and live environmental impact dashboards. Sister company Circular Communities Australia operates the Toowoomba recycling facility to transform collected bags into recycled resin pellets, which are manufactured into new products including water evaporation discs and community/school seating. The Farm Waste Recovery program, founded in 2015, was incorporated into the current Big Bag Recovery scheme which received Federal Government accreditation in 2021.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Big Bag Recovery Program Australian Government Accredited Product Stewardship scheme for plastic bags over 15kg/l of contents (sacks and bulk bags). Collects and recycles woven polypropylene (wPP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) bags, providing brand owners with regulatory compliance, live dashboards tracking CO2e reduction, landfill cost savings, and circular economy jobs created.
• Circular Communities Australia Recycling Plant Sister company operating Australia's first purpose-built big bag recycling plant in Toowoomba, Queensland. Transforms collected wPP and LDPE bags into recycled resin pellets which are manufactured into new products such as water evaporation discs and community/school seating.
• National Collection Services National collection partner network with capacity to collect from every local government area in Australia. Provides collections directly from businesses (factories, farms, mines) and via Council and community drop-off facilities, free for end users.
• Live Member Dashboard Real-time reporting dashboard for members providing live access to CO2e reduction data, landfill costs avoided, and circular economy jobs created. Members also have access to video feeds of their bags being processed by Circular Communities Australia.
• Recycled Resin Pellets End product created from processed wPP and LDPE bags at the Toowoomba facility. Sold as raw material for manufacturing new products, supporting circular economy outcomes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 9,428,294 kg of plastic recovered to date
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers27 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Circular Communities AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company and sister company under the Industry Waste Recovery group. Circular Communities Australia operates Australia's first purpose-built big bag recycling plant in Toowoomba, Queensland, transforming collected bags into recycled resin pellets for new life products. All bags collected by Big Bag Recovery are processed by Circular Communities Australia at their Toowoomba facility or other contracted processors.
• Circular Seats AustraliaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner. Circular Seats Australia uses recycled plastic from bulk bags to manufacture community and school seating products.
• Shopify / Clean Up AustraliaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as an alliance partner. Clean Up Australia is an environmental organisation.
• APCO (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner. APCO is the organisation responsible for delivering the Australian Packaging Covenant, which works with government and industry to reduce the environmental impact of packaging.
• Australian BeveragesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance partner representing beverage manufacturers in Australia.
• The Flagstaff GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organisation in the Crooked River Estate initiative. The Flagstaff Group receives bags from Crooked River Estate, weighs and records them, then sends them to Big Bag Recovery for processing and recycling. Also creates meaningful employment opportunities for individuals who have faced barriers to work.
• University of TasmaniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessor Jason Smith, Head of Natural Sciences at University of Tasmania, reviewed and assessed the methodology applied to calculate environmental benefits. Concluded that the methodology is reasonable and within a conservative range of performance.
• National Collection PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNational collection partners with the capacity to collect from every local government area in Australia. Councils and community groups provide drop-off facilities similar to the Farm Waste Recovery model. These compounds are serviced regularly.
• Endeavour FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Endeavour Foundation creating meaningful employment opportunities for individuals who have faced barriers to work at the Toowoomba processing facility.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TerraCycle: Global product stewardship and hard-to-recycle packaging collection scheme operator. Highly comparable as both run accredited/proprietary stewardship programs that collect branded packaging from end users on behalf of brand owners and deliver recycled-content outputs.
• Plastic Forests: Australian soft-plastics recycler that turns agricultural and industrial LDPE/PP waste into outdoor products and lumber substitutes. Highly comparable because both transform bulk bag waste into durable end-products for Australian customers.
• APR Plastics: Australian plastic recycler specialising in post-consumer and post-industrial LDPE/PP recovery into pellet feedstock. Comparable as a downstream processor competing for the same wPP/LDPE feedstock that Big Bag Recovery collects.
• Close the Loop: Australian soft plastics and e-waste recycler operating collection and reprocessing infrastructure. Directly comparable business model - collects branded plastic waste streams in Australia and converts them into new products, selling to manufacturers and councils.

Emerging players

• iQ Renew: Australian resource recovery and plastics recycling company. Comparable as a domestic competitor in the Australian post-consumer plastics recovery market, though iQ Renew spans broader streams beyond big bags.

Broad incumbents

• Pact Group Holdings: Leading Australian rigid plastics packaging manufacturer with growing recycling exposure. Comparable as a large packaging company whose brand owners must meet the same NEPM/RWR obligations, making it both a potential member and a vertical competitor.
• Veolia Australia and New Zealand: Global environmental services operator with significant Australian resource recovery operations. Comparable as a multinational incumbent that could enter or expand into bulk-bag stewardship given its existing collection network.
• Suez Recycling and Recovery Australia: International waste and resource recovery operator with Australian MRFs and recycling capacity. Comparable as a multinational incumbent that competes for the same Australian post-consumer plastics volume.
• Cleanaway Waste Management: Australia's largest waste management and resource recovery operator. Comparable as the dominant domestic incumbent that already collects bulk bag streams and could expand into Big Bag Recovery's niche through its national network.
• Visy: Major Australian packaging and recycling company operating MRFs and recycling infrastructure. Comparable as a vertically integrated Australian incumbent in collection, sorting, and recycled-content manufacturing that overlaps with BBR's processing capability.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bigbagrecovery
• Facebookfacebook.com/BigBagRecoveryAus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Big Bag Recovery