Question 1

What is the Circular Soft Plastics Directory?

Accepted Answer

A free, public directory of Australian-recycled soft-plastic products, built so councils and other public-sector buyers can find them, compare them on a like-for-like basis, build a defensible business case, and aggregate demand to reach better pricing. It is provided jointly by Lake Macquarie City Council, the Circular Economy Living Lab (CELL) and Tidal Circular.

Question 2

What is in it?

Accepted Answer

84 published products from 11 suppliers across 16 categories. Suppliers between them deliver to every state and territory. Each listing sets out the same information in the same way — recycled content, verification status, durability and UV performance, specifications and standards, applications, and either an indicative price or "available on request".

Question 3

Who is it for?

Accepted Answer

Australian councils and other public-sector buyers are the intended audience. Anyone can browse.

Question 4

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Nothing, for buyers and suppliers alike. There are no fees, no commissions, and no charge on any listing, enquiry or purchase.

Question 5

Is it impartial?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and deliberately so. The Directory is non-commercial and pre-competitive. No product or supplier is recommended, ranked or favoured; the default listing order is alphabetical. Nobody pays to appear, or to appear higher.

Question 6

Do I need an account to browse?

Accepted Answer

No. Browsing, searching and filtering are open to everyone, with no registration. You register once to use the interactive tools — contacting a supplier, saving products, joining or starting a demand pool, or sharing the Directory with colleagues.

Question 7

Why do you ask me to register?

Accepted Answer

So we know who is using it and can tell you when something changes, and so a supplier receiving an enquiry knows who it is from. Registration records your name, role, organisation, work email, and your acceptance of the Terms of Use. Registering does not oblige you or your organisation to buy anything.

Question 8

Are there different kinds of account?

Accepted Answer

Two. Buyer accounts are for Australian public-sector buyers — councils, joint organisations of councils, and regional waste groups that procure on their behalf. Buyers can use everything. Observer accounts are for everyone else with a legitimate interest: not-for-profits, industry participants, consultants, researchers, and government bodies that are not themselves purchasing these products. Observers can browse, search, save products, use the business-case calculator and its downloads, and share the Directory. The procurement tools — contacting suppliers and demand pooling — are limited to buyers. This is not a judgement about anyone. Those tools take up suppliers' time and record demand signals that councils rely on when aggregating volumes, so they are kept to the audience they were built for. If your organisation is a public-sector buyer and you have an observer account, contact us and we will review it.

Question 9

I am a council officer but I registered with a personal email address.

Accepted Answer

Your account will have been set up as an observer, because we identify buyers from the email domain. Contact us, or register again with your work address, and we will put it right.

Question 10

Do you verify what suppliers claim?

Accepted Answer

No — and this is important. Listing information is provided by suppliers, and we do not independently verify every claim. What we do instead is make the status of each claim explicit. Every product states whether a claim is certified, in progress, or self-declared. Across the current catalogue that is 15 certified, 3 in progress and 66 self-declared. Treat a self-declared figure as a starting point for your own due diligence, not as an assurance. Ask the supplier for evidence, exactly as you would in any procurement.

Question 11

Why do some products not show a price?

Accepted Answer

Because the supplier chose not to publish one. Prices are commercially sensitive and often depend on volume, so suppliers decide whether an indicative price is published or withheld. Where it is withheld we do not disclose it — you will see "available on request", and you can ask the supplier directly. Where a price is shown it is indicative, excludes GST, and excludes freight, which is quoted separately.

Question 12

Is the product list complete?

Accepted Answer

No. It is the suppliers we have found, who have chosen to list and confirmed their own details. It grows as more come forward. If you know of an Australian-recycled soft-plastic product that should be here, tell us.

Question 13

What does it do?

Accepted Answer

It compares up to three options on equivalent annual cost — the whole-of-life cost per year of service. That matters because a recycled product with a longer service life can be cheaper over its life while looking more expensive on the purchase order, and a straight price comparison hides that. It derives whole-of-life cost, upfront premium, simple payback, break-even service life, saving over your chosen horizon, and a benefit–cost ratio. It also reports the tonnes of recycled material involved and a modelled greenhouse benefit.

Question 14

Can I show the working to my finance team?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can download the business case as a PDF, and separately as the working spreadsheet — the real calculator with your inputs written in and every formula intact. Nothing is hidden in a black box.

Question 15

Where do the emissions numbers come from?

Accepted Answer

From a published assumption register, with every factor and its source documented at `/methodology`. Greenhouse results are always given as a low / central / high range, never a single number, because the underlying factors carry genuine uncertainty.

Question 16

What if I do not have all the inputs?

Accepted Answer

A missing input produces a blank and an explanation of what is missing. It never produces a fabricated zero, and a gap in one part of the calculation does not suppress the parts that can still be calculated.

Question 17

What is a demand pool?

Accepted Answer

Several councils indicating, in one place, the volume of the same product they each expect to need — so a supplier can see aggregate demand and price against it. Individually a council may be too small to attract volume pricing; together they often are not.

Question 18

Does joining a pool commit me to buying?

Accepted Answer

No. A pool records indicative demand. It is not a purchase commitment, not a contract, and not a tender. Each council still procures under its own rules, its own thresholds and its own approvals.

Question 19

Who can see that my council has joined?

Accepted Answer

Anyone. The pooling board is public and shows each participating organisation and the volume it has indicated. That transparency is what makes a pool credible to a supplier. Only join with a volume you are comfortable being seen.

Question 20

What happens when a pool reaches a milestone?

Accepted Answer

Nothing automatic. Milestones show when a pool has reached a scale that typically attracts better pricing. Approaching suppliers remains a decision for the councils involved.

Question 21

How do I contact a supplier?

Accepted Answer

Use "Contact supplier" on any product listing. We pass your message on with your details, and the supplier replies to you directly.

Question 22

Will my email address be published?

Accepted Answer

No. Your address is given to the supplier you contacted so they can reply, and to nobody else. It is never published, never sold, and never shared with other suppliers. Equally, we do not give you the supplier's address — we relay your message and they reply from their own.

Question 23

How do I get my product listed?

Accepted Answer

Contact us. Listing is free, and we will ask for the same information every other listing carries so buyers can compare like for like.

Question 24

I'm a listed supplier — do I need to do anything now?

Accepted Answer

Yes, one thing. As the platform formalises, we've introduced Terms of Use for suppliers — the plain-English basis on which your listing appears. If your products are listed, you'll have received an email with a link to your own listing, where you can read and accept them. Accepting takes a minute. You can review how your products appear, update anything, and accept the terms all from that same link.

Question 25

What do the supplier Terms of Use cover?

Accepted Answer

They set out that you're responsible for the accuracy of your own claims, how buyer enquiries and quotes are handled, that the Directory is impartial and charges no fees, and how you can update or withdraw your listing at any time — among other things. You can read them in full at tidalcircular.com.au/terms/supplier, and you'll be asked to accept them once (again if they're ever revised).

Question 26

Who controls what is published about my company?

Accepted Answer

You do. Nothing about your products appears publicly until you have reviewed exactly how it will look and approved it. That consent is yours alone to give or withdraw, and it is not editable by anyone else. You also choose whether your indicative price is published or withheld.

Question 27

Does listing imply endorsement?

Accepted Answer

No. Listing does not imply that Lake Macquarie City Council, CELL or Tidal Circular endorse you or your products, and suppliers agree not to represent that it does.

Question 28

What do you collect?

Accepted Answer

The details you give when you register — name, role, organisation and work email — plus your acceptance of the Terms of Use. Usage analytics are first-party and cookieless. No IP address, email address or identity is stored against an event, and location is coarse: country and state only.

Question 29

Do you sell my data?

Accepted Answer

No.

Question 30

Can I be removed?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Contact us and we will close your account or correct your details.

Frequently asked questions

About the Directory

Using the Directory

Product information

The business-case calculator

Demand pooling

Contacting suppliers

Suppliers

Privacy and data

Getting help