RECYCLING MANUFACTURING
Recycling - the opportunity industry can’t afford to waste
Hon Sussan Ley MP, Minister for the Environment
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he Government has elevated waste and recycling firmly to the national agenda and the micro economic reform that is now underway will be a game changer for business and the environment. We simply can’t keep choking our landfills and waterways with waste, we can’t keep throwing aside valuable resources that could be re-manufactured into new products, and we shouldn’t ship our waste overseas to become another country’s problem. These concepts are not new in themselves, they are things people have long been aware of, but that have been all too often put off until another ‘business day’, managed by states, local government and individual businesses with varying outcomes. Co-investment The Government has stepped in to create world first legislation to stop the export of the unprocessed plastic, glass, tyres, and cardboard, and signalled that we have arrived at that ‘business day’. We have co-invested with state and territory governments, and with industry, to grow domestic recycling capacity to meet the 645,000 tonnes of waste that
will need to be processed on shore as the export bans phase in. 86 Projects are already underway through our Commonwealth Recycling Modernisation Fund, a fund that was expected to generate $600 million in shared investment and which is now on track to exceed $800 million. National waste and recycling targets are in place, we are funding national product stewardship schemes and we are driving public information campaigns promoting the value of products being “Remade in Australia.” Recycling is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it is no longer something that we can stop thinking about once the ‘bins are put out’. Recognising the opportunities that are created after that point is becoming an essential part of product design, manufacture, packaging, and management, and if that isn’t the case in your company, it is very likely to be in the near future. Circular economy The Government’s focus on what is so often described as the ‘circular economy’ is driven out of good public policy and good business. By transforming Australia’s waste and
recycling industry, we will support more than 10,000 new jobs–an increase of 32 percent in jobs in the waste and recycling industry–and divert over 10 million tonnes of waste from landfill every year. In addition, our economy will grow by more than $1.5 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the next 20 years, and save 165 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2040. As we grow recycling in Australia, the challenge is to align the opportunities this sector presents with the way business and industry plan. Product Stewardship provisions strengthened under the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act are about working with industry sectors to achieve that outcome and they include the provision to call out industries that don’t get on board. This is not the government telling industry what to do, we are investing over $25 million to help establish industry led stewardship schemes, which are about driving industry led solutions. Already we have kick started schemes to recycle items that cannot be put in our kerbside recycling bins including batteries, clothing textiles, coffee cups, cosmetics, and soft plastic packaging.
Improved long-term solutions There is an urgent need to drive better long-term solutions for technologies and products that play a key role for our economy and our day-to-day lives, including solar panels, electric car batteries and the gamut of products used to make our homes and office buildings. As an example, it is estimated that Australia will generate 288,000 tonnes of solar waste between 2020 – 2030. We need to prevent the valuable resources in these panels going to landfill and ensure they are used in new products. This is not a pipe dream, we are already seeing recycling initiatives develop for products including farm plastics, sports equipment, sports shoes, food packaging, e-waste, tyres from the mining industry and used oil containers. Viable business solutions are out there, and it is in everyone’s interest to invest in this area now. The Commonwealth’s ‘Remade in Australia’ campaign is an important reminder to look around and take note of the innovative recycling that is already part of our daily lives. For industry it is also a compelling reminder to think seriously about the opportunities that lie ahead.
Remanufacture NSW grants open until March
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ound two of the Remanufacture NSW funding program is open until 5 pm Friday, 11 March. The program comprises two (2) streams infrastructure and trials. This program provides co-funding for waste and recycling infrastructure to support industry to respond to Australia’s waste export ban. This program is co-funded by the Australian Government through the Recycling Modernisation Fund and the NSW Government through the Waste Less, Recycle More initiative and is delivered by the NSW Environmental Trust in artnership with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). Program streams Remanufacture NSW has 2 streams: 1. Infrastructure 2. Trials The purpose of Remanufacture NSW Round 2 is to offer funding up to $13.5 million to support the NSW resource recovery sector's response to changes brought about by the decision to ban the export of unbeneficiated waste plastic, paper and tyres. Remanufacture NSW ensures New South Wales leads by example and maximises recycling and reuse activities while keeping materials within the productive economy. The program targets the following waste materials, which are subject to the export ban: • plastic• paper
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• cardboard • tyres Under Stream 1 the establishment of new recycling infrastructure and equipment will be co-funded and includes, but is not limited to: • improving sorting technology and/or increased capacity for plastic, paper and cardboard products at materials recovery facilities (MRFs) • improving cleaning technology for plastic products at waste facilities increasing mixed plastics processing capacity • building capacity to process higher value single stream plastics such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high density polyethylene) • building capacity to process single stream plastics other than PET and HDPE and compound materials
• tyre recycling and reuse technology and infrastructure • increasing the use of recyclable and recycled materials in manufacturing and civil construction • mobile and stationary processing equipment. Under Stream 2, innovative trials to address plastic, paper, cardboard and tyres will be co-funded, and include, but are not limited to: • trials that support the reuse of the waste export ban materials listed above • trials that aim to increase the capacity of manufacturers to use recycled material in their products and to provide secure markets for these recycled materials (examples include new/modified equipment to increase the use of
recycled • materials, such as post-consumer plastic, in the manufacture of goods or products) • trials that test new infrastructure/ equipment to sort, wash, dry, shred, flake, granulate or pelletise materials • trials that test equipment upgrades or process improvements to existing MRFs to increase the quality of output materials, reduce contamination and/or increase capacity • trials that test upgrading plastic sorting, processing and manufacture technology to produce cleaner streams of plastic and have the potential to use larger amounts of recycled plastics • trials that test new methods of paper beneficiation so that local paper mills can accept higher volumes of paper and cardboard • trials that test new methodologies or technologies to process Liquid Paper Board • trials that test plastic processing, remanufacturing and new applications for recycled plastics • trials that test mobile processing equipment • trials that use new technologies or methods to reuse or recycle end-of-life tyres. Funding available Grants of between $100,000 and $3 million are available to fund eligible Remanufacture NSW Stream 1 – Infrastructure projects, while Grants of between $50,000 and $1 million will fund eligible Remanufacture NSW Stream 2 – Trial projects.
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022
