The building of Victoria's biggest PET plastic recycling plant is progressing apace, with installation underway of high-tech equipment which will be able to recycle the equivalent of around one billion PET plastic beverage bottles a year.
Highly specialised sorting, washing, decontamination and extrusion equipment from Italy (supplied by Amut) and Austria (supplied by Starlinger) is being installed by workers at the 6000m² Circular Plastics Australia (PET) facility in Melbourne's Altona North.
When operational later this year, the new $50 million facility will be the biggest of its kind in Victoria and the equal biggest in Australia.
Andrew Smith, Pact Group executive general manager, Recycling said: "Our new recycling facility will ensure thousands of tonnes of plastic waste is recycled locally and manufactured into new beverage bottles and food packaging instead of going to landfill."
Smith said the new infrastructure will provide a closed loop solution for plastic drink bottles and will help create a circular economy in Victoria. It will turn plastic bottles collected from household recycling bins and Victoria’s soon-to-be introduced container deposit scheme into high-quality, food-grade recycled resin. This resin will then be used to make new recycled beverage bottles and food packaging which can be recycled repeatedly.
"It will give Victorians the confidence that they can contribute to a sustainable future by recycling their bottles and buying beverages in recycled plastic packaging," Smith said.
Take look at the build underway in the video below:
Circular Plastics Australia (PET) is a joint venture between Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management, Asahi Beverages, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP)
Pact is managing the build and will operate the recycling facility. Cleanaway will supply the plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network. Asahi Beverages and CCEP will use the recycled resin from the plant to make new 100% recycled PET beverage bottles, and Pact will use the resin to manufacture recycled food and beverage packaging for its customers.
More than 60 people have been employed onsite during the construction and installation phase and another 45 ongoing permanent roles will be created once the facility becomes operational in the first half of 2023.
Solar energy will be used to part power the recycling facility, and a water treatment unit and rainwater tanks will reuse and recycle as much water on site as possible.
The new Victorian facility will be the second PET plastic recycling plant for the joint venture following the opening of a similar plant in Albury, NSW in March 2022, which is currently the biggest of its kind in Australia.
Each facility will be capable of recycling around 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year – the equivalent of about one billion 600ml PET beverage bottles – with operations running 24/7.
The Altona North facility was supported by a $6 million grant through the Australian Government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund and the Victorian Government’s Recycling Victoria – Recycling Modernisation Fund.
