The environmental watchdog investigating the collapse of Australia’s largest plastic bag recycling program has charged the operators of REDcycle for failing to provide information about the locations of warehouses that secretly stockpiled hundreds of millions of bags.

The Environment Protection Authority Victoria on Friday charged RG Programs and Services, operators of the REDcycle program, with three counts of failing to comply with their information-gathering process.

The Age revealed the program’s collapse last month amid revelations hundreds of millions of bags and other soft plastic items dropped off by customers at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets had been hidden in warehouses and not recycled.

The charges come after almost 8000 tonnes of plastic bags were found in warehouses across three states earlier this month.

Investigators in Victoria, South Australia and NSW uncovered the waste as part of a probe into the program.

The EPA investigation is ongoing and REDcycle could be charged with breaches of environmental laws.

More to come

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