Australian government invests in new soft plastics recycling plant

The Australian government announced a A$20 million) (US$13.5 million) investment in a new soft plastics mechanical recycling plant.

Recycling Plastics Australia will build a plant with a capacity of 14,000 metric tons per year at its Kilburn headquarters in South Australia. Deploying technology from mechanical recycling specialist PreOne Australia, the plant is expected to recycle soft plastics such as shopping bags, chip packets, and food wrappers into new feedstock. The facility will require a total investment of A$40 million (US$27 million). The parties involved did not disclose when the plant is expected to start operations.

The new investment follows the collapse of Australia’s soft plastics recycling program in 2022. Industry giants poured millions into REDcycle to collect material for recycling since 2010. In November 2022, it was revealed that the company was stockpiling soft plastics in several warehouses across Australia rather than directing them for recycling. The collapse of the scheme was partly blamed on lack of soft plastics recycling infrastructure.

To address the issue, the Australian government introduced the Recycling Modernization Fund (RMF). It is investing A$250 million (US$168.8 million) in new and upgraded recycling infrastructure through the RMF, including the new facility in Kilburn.

The Department for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water is also chairing a new Soft Plastics Taskforce, which has taken over responsibility for 11,000 tonnes of soft plastics previously managed by REDCycle. The scheme operates take-back programs in three major supermarkets: Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi.

“I applaud the commonwealth for this significant investment which acknowledges both the need for this service, and the strength of South Australia’s existing resource recovery and recycling industry,” said Deputy Premier of South Australia, Susan Close. “Scaling up equipment and personnel to tackle the challenge of soft plastic recycling is the first step into rebuilding the infrastructure we need for an effective supermarket ‘take back’ scheme."

Australia introduced national targets for packaging in 2018 in an industry-led scheme that does not impose penalties for failures. It requires 70 percent of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted by 2025. Australia will not reach the target, with only 18 percent of plastic packaging being recycled in 2023. Groups have called for the introduction of a plastic tax and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in response.

The Australian government has also introduced new rules that will come into force this year, including a ban on all soft plastics shopping bags and single-use plastics including coffee cups from Sept. 1. The new laws also require packaging to be designed to be recovered, reused, recycled, and reprocessed safely in line with circular economy principles.

* Source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/soft-plastics-recycling-plant-debut-australia