South Australia is set to become a pioneer in recycling soft plastics due to a significant $20 million government investment. Annually, this will divert over 14,000 tonnes of soft plastics from going into landfill.
Recycling Plastics Australia in Kilburn will use advanced technology to process typically hard-to-recycle materials like shopping bags, chip packets, and food wrappers. These will be transformed into a reusable substance that can be used as feedstock for new packaging. The initiative promises to create 45 new jobs while contributing to Australia’s recycling and waste management capabilities.
This essential development is a part of the South Australian and Australian governments’ broader strategy under the Recycling Modernisation Fund Plastics Technology stream. A total of $60 million is dedicated to enhancing recycling capacities for challenging plastics. This effort involves scaling collection schemes and aligning with the circular economy transition goals.
The Recycling Modernisation Fund, a national campaign, will generate a reciprocal investment of $1 billion through partnerships with states and industry stakeholders. This substantial sum aims to strengthen the recycling of materials such as glass, plastics, tyres, and cardboard across Australia.
Additionally, the Australian Government is championing new national packaging laws designed to ensure all packaging is created to support recovery, reuse, and recycling. This is positioned within the overarching principles of the circular economy, which strives for sustainability at all phases of production and consumption.
Nationally, the government’s plans will significantly upscale Australia’s recycling operations by more than a million tonnes annually and are expected to create over 3,000 jobs. Specifically for South Australia, this surge will include over 600 job opportunities.
The announcement of these upgrades coincides with the Plastic Free July movement, which encourages Australians to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
The Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, highlighted the collective responsibility and benefit of these initiatives. She noted, “South Australians want to do their part to reduce their waste, reuse and recycle household products, and lighten their impact on the planet.”
“This funding is supporting new recycling infrastructure, helping to solve challenges with plastic waste and stop soft plastics from going to landfill, while also supporting jobs and industry,” Plibersek added.
Susan Close, Deputy Premier of South Australia, also supported the announcement, emphasising the local efforts to reduce plastic use. “The South Australian government has been taking action to ban more and more unnecessary single-use plastic with bans on all soft plastic shopping bags and single-use plastic including coffee cups from 1 September this year,” said Close.
“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,” she continued.
Peter Gregg, Chair of Recycling Plastics Australia, expressed gratitude for the governmental support. “Recycling Plastics Australia has a proud history leading the circular economy by recycling plastics that are difficult to process,” stated Gregg.
“This funding will see our Kilburn site in South Australia become the prominent soft-plastic recycling processor in the country, with materials recycled here and sold into local and global packaging markets,” Gregg added.
More News
