Pro-Pac Group's soft plastic recycling projects have had an investment boost following the latest rounds of government grants for a recycling plant in Albury and film extrusion plants in Melbourne and Perth. To date grants total $19m.
For its Albury, NSW project, Pro-Pac has received a second instalment of $4.9m of a Modern Manufacturing Initiative Government grant ($10.5 million received to date, with a total of $13.9m pledged) to establish a soft plastics mechanical recycling facility.
The facility is designed to process up to 15,000 tonnes annually of LDPE soft plastic waste such as pallet and silage wrap. The company says the output of the plant will be high-quality recycled resin capable of going back into the same product applications.
The Albury facility is due to come online in late 2025, just in time for the proposed recycled content mandate that government has slated for release before year-end. The proposed site is co-located alongside the Circular Plastics Australia plastic recycling facility, which produces recycled PET. The company says the addition of this facility will expand the technology and capability of the Nexus precinct to create a "world-class circular economy hub for plastics".
Pro-Pac has also received $8.5m from the Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) for three new film extrusion lines that will be tailored for maximising recycled content in high performance low gauge films. Of this funding, $6m is allocated to Pro-Pac's Reservoir facility in Melbourne, announced in late August by the federal and Victoria state as part of a $15.6m total investment in soft plastic recycling in Victoria.
The Melbourne facility will produce up to 11,000 tonnes of Australian soft plastic packaging per year with 30 per cent recycled content, and is due to come on stream in 2026. The Perth facility will get a $2.5m cash injection and has capacity to process 6200 tonnes of soft plastic with 30 per cent recycled content per annum. It is due to come online in 2025.
Commenting on the government investment, Pro Pac Group CEO and managing director, John Cerini said, “With the government’s support, this investment will enable us to take stewardship of the products we produce and with the incoming recycled content mandate for packaging, we will be able to provide brand owners with locally manufactured packaging solutions.”
Cerini said, “Pro-Pac will convert Australian soft plastic waste into recycled content products onshore, giving a fully circular Australian solution.”
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