Pact Group, Cleanaway, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have formed a new joint venture to build a new PET plastic recycling facility in Altona North.
Construction of the plant, which is set to be the largest of its kind in Victoria, will start in early 2002 and finish in 2023, with more than 100 local jobs to be created while it is being built and 45 permanent roles once the plant opens.
Robert Iervasi, Asahi Beverages Group CEO, said: “We are constructing this facility to help create a truly circular economy in Victoria and beyond. Our consumers can now have increased confidence that when they dispose of their plastic water or soft drink bottle, it will be recycled instead of going to landfill. It’s not every day that drinks companies announce they’re building a new recycling plant but we want to help create meaningful change.”
Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley and Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced $6 million dollars towards the project from a total pool of $36.5 million in joint funding for projects under the Australian Government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) and the Victorian Government’s Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund.
Peter West, CCEP Vice President and General Manager Australia, Pacific and Indonesia, said: “We are proud of CCEP’s continued investment in Australia’s circular economy. Our vision is for our bottles to be part of a closed loop where they are used, collected and given another life. This plant will work to complete this loop, lessen the national rPET shortage and create new jobs for Victorian workers. It is truly an exciting milestone in our sustainability ambitions.”
Sanjay Dayal, Pact Group CEO and Managing Director added: “We know from our research that Australian consumers are increasingly demanding packaging that is recycled and recyclable, and this new PET recycling facility in Victoria ticks both of those boxes. Pact Group is delighted to have been able to drive a cross industry solution for sustainable beverage bottles and we will continue to work with industry partners and government to create a strong local circular economy. This facility is part of our ongoing investment in new state-of-the-art facilities to recycle plastic waste and manufacture sustainable packaging all across Australia.”
The new Victorian facility will be the second PET recycling plant to be built by the joint venture following the construction of a similar plant in Albury-Wodonga which will be fully operational next month.
Each facility will be capable of processing the equivalent of around one billion plastic bottles – collected via Container Deposit Schemes and kerbside recycling each year. This will be converted into more than 20,000 tonnes of high-quality recycled PET bottles and food packaging by each facility, which will use state-of-the-art sorting, washing, decontamination and extrusion technology.