Victoria advances soft plastics recycling with new ACR facility

CANADA – Victoria has taken a significant step toward sustainable waste management with EPA Victoria granting a Development Licence to APR Chemcycle for a new advanced chemical recycling (ACR) plant. 

The facility, set to be constructed at Rowsley Station Rd, Maddingley, will employ pyrolysis technology to transform soft plastics into commercial-grade oil, marking it as the state’s first operational ACR plant dedicated to soft plastics. 

This oil will serve as feedstock for manufacturing new plastic packaging, addressing a critical gap in Australia’s recycling infrastructure.

The plant is designed to process 10 tonnes of waste plastic daily, according to EPA Victoria.

Funding from Sustainability Victoria has supported the project, enabling the purchase and installation of a modular processing unit capable of handling kerbside soft plastic waste.

Collaborative value chain drives circularity

The APR Chemcycle initiative stems from a strategic partnership among APR Plastics, Aster Chemicals and Energy, Taghleef Industries Group, and Pro-Pac Group. 

This collaboration focuses on recycling multi-layer soft plastics, commonly used in food packaging but challenging to recycle due to their complex composition. 

The partnership ensures a complete value chain, from waste collection to producing new packaging.

Under this model, APR Chemcycle will manage the pyrolysis process, converting soft plastics into oil. 

Aster will refine this oil into olefins, which are then transformed into polypropylene resin. Taghleef will produce polypropylene film from the resin, and Pro-Pac will manufacture this film into snack food wrappers. 

The partnership aims to process up to 3,000 tonnes of soft plastic waste annually, creating a circular system for post-consumer packaging.

Darren Thorpe, CEO of APR Plastics, called the EPA approval a “massive milestone” for the company’s recycling efforts. 

He emphasized that advanced recycling offers a practical solution for managing soft plastics locally, reducing reliance on landfills.

The Maddingley facility builds on a successful pilot at APR’s Dandenong South site, where a smaller pyrolysis unit has been operational since 2022. 

Plans are in place to scale up to a larger facility by 2028, targeting a capacity of 100 tonnes per day. 

Recent developments also indicate growing support for soft plastics recycling in Australia. 

A new large-scale facility in New South Wales, opened in August 2025, is processing up to 14,000 tonnes of household soft plastics annually, complementing efforts like APR Chemcycle’s to address the national plastic waste challenge.

This initiative demonstrates a practical approach to tackling soft plastics, a major contributor to landfill waste, by creating a sustainable, locally-driven recycling solution.

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