A joint venture between Asahi Beverages, Pact Group Holdings and Cleanaway Waste Management will see a $45 million world-class recycling facility open in Albury-Wodonga.
The project was made possible with the assistance of almost $5 million from the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW Government’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative.
The plant will become Australia’s largest PET recycling plant and will see the equivalent of around one billion PET plastic bottles recycled each year.
The project is integral to ensuring the successful delivery of Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets. It will create local jobs during construction and permanent jobs when it begins operations.
Located in the Nexus Precinct 10km outside of the Albury CBD in NSW, the plant is expected to be operational by October, two months earlier than expected owing to Albury Council approving the project ahead of schedule. It will trade as Circular Plastics Australia PET.
The raw plastic material that the new plant will recycle each year is equivalent to one billion 600ml PET plastic bottles and will be used to produce more than 20,000 tonnes of new recycled PET bottles and food packaging.
It will increase the amount of locally sourced and recycled PET produced in Australia by two thirds, from around 30,000 tonnes to more than 50,000 tonnes per annum according to Pact Group.
The plant will also reduce Australia’s reliance on virgin plastic and the amount of recycled plastic Australia imports. Solar energy will power part of the facility.
Asahi Beverage’s Group CEO, Robert Iervasi, said: “This will be a world-class facility that helps transform Australia’s recycling capacity and the Albury-Wodonga region should be proud of its contribution to manufacturing and recycling in Australia.
“Along with our beverage manufacturing plant in Albury, the new plant is part of our long-term commitment to the region.”
Cleanaway’s CEO and Managing Director, Vik Bansal, said the new facility for PET plastic will recycle the containers collected through the NSW Return and Earn Scheme and Cleanaway’s Material Recovery Facilities, helping create a domestic circular economy.
“We’re proud that Cleanaway’s Footprint 2025 strategy has reached a point where we’re not only providing the right infrastructure for resource recovery but extending the value chain to ensure that material is optimised for recycling into new products.”