The federal government has announced 22 new recycling projects, including one in Newcastle, in collaboration with its state counterpart to ease pressure on the environment.
The joint funding component between the Commonwealth and NSW for these developments is $24 million, which Australian environment minister Sussan Ley estimates will generate industry investment of $59 million.
It is part of a $600 million national rollout of recycling infrastructure.
Included in the projects is the establishment of a new $40 million regional Materials Recovery Facility to recycle waste glass, plastic, tyres, paper and cardboard in Newcastle.
“This is about easing pressure on our environment by recycling more materials including plastics, tyres, glass, cardboard and even coffee cups and, importantly, it is about creating jobs and economic investment,” Ms Ley said.
“We need to capture the economic value of waste, we need to create markets for recycled materials and this level of investment will drive jobs in key areas at a critical time.”
NSW Minister for Environment Matt Kean said the Remanufacture NSW projects in Western Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle, and regional NSW would create jobs.
It will also increase the state’s recycling capacity by an estimated 120,000 tonnes every year.
“We can’t keep sending our scraps to languish in landfill when there are huge opportunities to turn our trash into treasure,” Mr Kean said.
“This funding and these new projects will help to boost our existing recycling capabilities, supportive innovative re-use of recycled materials and boost NSW’s recycling capacity.”
Key projects:
- Establishment of a new $40 million regional Materials Recovery Facility to recycle waste glass, plastic, tyres and paper and cardboard in Newcastle
- Five mobile plastic processing facilities across Sydney to process almost 5000 tonnes of plastic each year
- New state-of-the-art infrastructure in Erskine Park to reprocess 3,200 tonnes of used tyres for use in road construction and manufactured rubber-based products
- Wetherill Park plant expansion that turns paperboard beverage containers into sustainable building products as a substitute for plaster and particle boards
- Upgrading glass processing in western Sydney to process an additional 50,000 tonnes of glass each year that will increase the kerbside glass recovery from 53% to 60%
- Upgrading moulding equipment at Sulo’s Somersby facility to recycle old kerbside bins and bottle caps back into mobile garbage bins, creating circular kerbside bins
- Expanding Australian Recycled Plastics facility at Narrabri to allow both PET and HDPE/PP lines to run simultaneously and at full capacity, processing up 9,300 tonnes per annum.
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
For more news stories:
