$4.8 million for regional recycling
Regional communities are taking a lead role in Australia’s recycling transformation with the Morrison and Perrottet governments announcing $4.8 million in co-funding for regional and remote recycling infrastructure.
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said the co-funding with NSW Government would help ensure regional and remote communities have access to new or improved recycling infrastructure under the Morrison Government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF).
“The eight projects we are announcing in NSW today include an Australian first plastics e-waste facility in Albury, material recovery facilities in Tamworth and Hay, tyre processing in Cootamundra and an innovative re-use project in Nowra that will keep 7,500 plastic drums out of landfill.
“The Scipher Technologies plant in Albury will install Australia’s first e-waste plastics recovery facility equipped with advanced air sorting to separate mixed e-waste plastics and recover flame-retardant-free single plastic polymers, such as polystyrene and ABS plastic chips.
“This is regional communities leading the way to create jobs and ensure that all Australians can be part of the Morrison Government’s national recycling agenda.”
NSW Minister for Environment James Griffin said the projects spread from Tamworth to Hay, Cootamundra and the NSW South Coast.
“The NSW Government is proud to be co-investing in these projects because they’re helping to find solutions for recycling waste streams that were affected by the export waste ban,” Mr Griffin said.
“These projects support the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy, which is aiming to achieve an 80 per cent average resource recovery rate from all waste streams by 2030.
“New infrastructure means new jobs, and these innovative projects will support more than 60 new fulltime jobs during the construction phase, and more than 35 new ongoing roles.”
Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Trevor Evans said that the Morrison Government was committed to giving all Australians access to recycling.
“The projects we are funding under the RMF show that regional Australia has a big role to play as the Morrison Government drives a billion-dollar transformation of our waste and recycling industry,” Assistant Minister Evans said.
“We are working with states, territories and industry to turbocharge domestic recycling and build a circular economy that processes materials to be re-made in Australia rather than sent overseas.”
The $280 million Recycling Modernisation Fund investment, together with other measures to support Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan, will create approximately 10,000 new jobs all around Australia over the next ten years.
More information on the Recycling Modernisation Fund is available at
https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/how-we-manage-waste/recyclingmodernisation-fund and https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/funding-and-support/nswenvironmental-trust/grants-available/remote-and-regional-remanufacture-nsw.