AUSTRALIA – The Albanese and Queensland Labor Governments have partnered with Brisbane-based national company AusWaste Recycling to build a waste paper recycling plant in Brendale, Queensland.
With an investment of A$137 million (US$87.06m), the Australian Recycled Pulp and Paper Project will be built in South East Queensland.
The development has received A$40 million (US$25.42m) in combined funding from both governments via the Recycling Modernisation Fund.
In addition, the country’s packaging industry is contributing A$97 million (US$61.64m) to the overall project expenses.
The funding is part of an overarching A$1 billion (US$635.50m) vision to improve recycling infrastructure in the country, aiming to add more than one million tonnes of processing capacity nationwide each year.
The facility aims to convert 220,000 tonnes of waste paper and cardboard from Queensland and northern New South Wales into pulp for export.
It will convert various types of waste such as newspapers, coffee cups, milk cartons, and office paper, into value-added paper pulp for paper mills.
Construction of the facility is anticipated to commence in the middle of next year and is projected to be concluded by mid-2025.
The project is expected to create approximately 195 temporary construction jobs and 58 permanent jobs.
The factory is set to enhance Australia’s position in the worldwide waste paper and cardboard recycling market while assisting in achieving Queensland’s own waste recovery and recycling targets.
Australia’s Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said, “The new facility will supercharge recycling in Queensland. It means that paper and cardboard waste, like egg cartons and cereal boxes, can be sorted and processed in Queensland.
“And this is just one of 24 recycling projects that we are funding across Queensland. These projects are creating [a total of] 740 jobs and will process an extra 364,000 tonnes of waste.”
This project comes three months after Amcor and Mondelēz International signed investment agreements to help Licella construct what claims to be one of the first advanced recycling facilities in Australia and work towards processing 12,000 tonnes of end-of-life plastics every year.
Licella is set to utilise Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR) technology – an advanced hydrothermal liquefaction or HTL technology – to recycle end-of-life plastic back into a crude oil substance and produce new food-grade plastic packaging. This process uses hot, pressurized water to continuously recycle end-of-life plastics.
Based in Melbourne, the Advanced Recycling Victoria facility is initially set to process approximately 20,000 tonnes of end-of-life per annum.
Mondelēz International – the parent company of Cadbury, Pascall, The Natural Confectionery Company, and more – will have access to the recyclate via Amcor and expects to implement it into soft plastic packaging sold in Australia, thus reducing its demand for virgin plastic.
