Australian Government backs advanced plastics recycling
December 9, 2024
Close the Loop secures funding to boost plastics recycling push in New South Wales.
In a joint statement, the Australian Government and NSW authorities confirmed their investment in soft plastics, jointly backing innovative projects to tackle one of the nation’s most persistent waste challenges.
Close the Loop, a Melbourne-based plastics recycler will receive $2.35 million to establish an advanced mechanical recycling facility in southwest NSW. The plant will process 4,400 tonnes of mixed post-consumer soft plastics annually, transforming waste into valuable products such as plastic pellets for manufacturing crates, bins, and shipping pallets. The facility will also produce TonerPlas, an engineered additive for sustainable asphalt.
TonerPlas has a global supply chain rooted in resource recovery. Waste toner powder collected at Close the Loop’s European operation in Belgium is shipped to Australia via Malaysia, where valuable metals are extracted from the powder before it is repurposed into the asphalt additive, maximising that maximum value is extracted from discarded materials.
Close the Loop’s Head of Circular Economy, Steve Morriss highlighted the significance of the funding, “TonerPlas has been used in the highly successful M80 Freeway Upgrade in Victoria among several other projects, and we’re thrilled to expand the model into NSW with the support of the RMF. This grant will allow us to manufacture TonerPlas in NSW, using soft plastics waste and creating jobs across the state.” Adding: “The best roads in the world use polymer modified binders, so why not use recycled polymers to help make the best roads in Australia?”
The initiative is part of a broader $7.4 million government package, funded largely through the Recycling Modernisation Fund Plastics Technology stream. Sicut Enterprises will also benefit by securing $5 million to develop Australia’s first commercial composite sleeper production facility in northwest NSW. The project aims to process up to 8,000 tonnes of plastics annually into railway sleepers, with significant applications in national rail infrastructure.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek emphasised the importance of such projects in reducing landfill reliance and progressing Australia’s circular economy ambitions. “This is great for the environment, but it’s also great for the economy. For every job in landfill, there are three jobs in recycling,” she said.
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe pointed to landfill pressures in Greater Sydney that are “on track to run out by 2030, investments like these will contribute to the solution.” Adding: “Once operational, these cutting-edge facilities will boost our recovery and recycling rates for hard-to-recycle plastics, allowing them to be recirculated into the economy in a safe and sustainable way.”
Categories : World Focus
Tags : Australia Close the Loop Innovation Plastics Recycling Sustainability
