Pact Group and Cleanaway have announced the future construction of an AUD 38 million ($27.9 million) plastic recycling facility in Laverton, Australia, which they claim will be the country’s largest post-consumer polyethylene recycling plant.
According to a joint statement from the companies, the new facility will be capable of processing more than 20,000 tonnes of plastic packaging per year – the equivalent of over 500,000 plastic milk bottles and food tubs – into food-grade rHDPE and rPP resins for use in food, dairy and other packaging applications.
Construction of the plant is anticipated to begin towards the end of the year and it is expected to be fully operational by December 2022.
This facility will enable food and beverage manufacturers to include locally processed recycled content in their packaging, with the companies claiming that it will significantly augment Australia’s local processing capacity for recycled plastics, which are subject to a series of rolling export bans from later this year.
The facility will be operated by a joint venture trading as Circular Plastics Australia (PE). This joint venture between Pact and Cleanaway complements an existing PET recycling joint venture between Pact, Cleanaway and Asahi.
Pact’s managing director and CEO, Sanjay Dayal, said: “This new recycling facility highlights the progress we are making in expanding our reuse and recycling capability, a core component of our growth strategy.
“At Pact, we are committed to leading the way in creating a strong, local circular economy that diverts waste materials from landfill and uses them to deliver sustainably manufactured products, including recycled packaging solutions that are increasingly in demand. ”
Cleanaway’s chief operating officer, Brendan Gill, added: “The opportunities presented by the circular economy are endless. This 20,000-tonne plastic pelletising facility is a huge win for the environment by creating a high value, recycled raw material from plastics we collect and sort through our network.
This venture makes it possible to turn a milk bottle back into a milk bottle. This will provide our Melbourne councils and commercial customers with a great outcome for their recycling initiatives and contributes to the development of a domestic circular economy.”
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