The Victorian Government has announced funding for 13 new resource recovery infrastructure projects, comprising more than $4.2 million from the second round of its Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund.
Managed by statutory authority Sustainability Victoria, the new projects, worth more than $47 million and all in rural and regional Victoria, are expected to create 50 jobs and divert around 85,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year.
Eight of the 13 projects are being delivered by local government which will include $2.4 million in funding. Projects include new or upgraded council resource recovery centres in the rural cities of Benalla and Wangaratta, and the Campaspe, Mitchell, Moira, Toowong and Yarriambiack Shires.
Campaspe Shire is being funded $275,000 for two projects to expand its combined collection of food organics and garden organics for composting. It will also invest in collecting and compressing soft plastics and expanded polystyrene to increase the capacity to recycle these products.
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Private sector projects funded include large-scale composting operations near Camperdown, Shepparton and the Latrobe Valley, and a waste to energy plant using commercial and industrial waste and other products near Bacchus Marsh.
A Mildura based recycling company that makes a range of products from recycled plastics is also receiving support to increase its production capacity.
Sustainability Victoria Chief Executive Officer Stan Krpan said the $13.6 million Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund aims to support the development of infrastructure which improves the collection and processing of recycled materials.
“The Victorian government is investing at record levels in programs to develop markets for recovered resources, facilitate private investment in resource recovery infrastructure and educate households and businesses about how to better manage waste,” Mr Krpan said.
“With recent changes to international recycling markets, infrastructure investments are crucial to ensuring we continue to develop our local industry and in doing so, facilitate innovation and create jobs,” Mr Krpan said.
Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the Victorian Government is developing a circular economy that maximises the reuse of materials, increases recycling and reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
Fourteen round one projects were announced in July 2017. They received $5 million and will divert at least 350,000 tonnes of waste materials from landfill and create an estimated 85 jobs.
NEW FUNDING APPLICATIONS OPEN
Applications for the third round of the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Funding have also opened. Up to $3 million is available for infrastructure projects across Victoria. Grants of between $40,000 and $500,000 are available.
Information about how to apply for round three funding can be found by clicking here.
FUNDED PROJECTS
| Grant recipient | Project description | Government funding | Total project cost |
| Benalla Rural City Council | A best-practice resource recovery transfer station will be built at a council’s landfill site, significantly improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Benalla landfill and lift the amount of material not going to landfill from 35 per cent to 55 per cent. | $440,000 | $900,00 |
| Campaspe Shire | Campaspe Shire is being funded for two projects, including a new opt-in kerbside food and garden organics collection service for 2000 households and a food organics collection for nearly 6000 residents who now have a garden waste collection service.
Two compactors to compress soft plastics and expanded polystyrene will be installed at the Mt Scobie and Echuca resource recovery centres increasing the recovery of these materials which are expensive to transport if not compacted. Collection bins for flexible plastics will be installed at eight resource recovery centres and later at council offices, schools, neighbourhood houses, disability services and businesses to maximise convenience for residents. |
$295,155 | $555,288 |
| Mitchell Shire | A new resource recovery centre will be built on council-owned land, next to its Hilldene landfill and prioritise waste minimisation, resource reuse and recovery over disposal. | $500,000 | $2,585,000 |
| Moira Shire | Cobram’s resource recovery facility will be upgraded to enable industrial waste sorting which accounts for 45 per cent (6000 tonnes) of the waste that is currently disposed at the landfill. The project aims to divert half of this material (e.g soft plastics, cardboard, soil, concrete, metals and timber) from landfill. | $495,000 | $993,000 |
| Towong Shire | Towong Shire is upgrading Corryong’s resource recovery centre and Tallangatta’s transfer station, diverting up to 30 per cent of priority materials like rigid and soft plastics, e-waste, glass, timber and cardboard from landfill. Towong Shire will also establish two resale shops, public access to recycling skips at Corryong and improve storage capacity at each site. | $40,000 | $480,000 |
| Wangaratta Rural City Council | A new organics processing facility will be built at the Bowser East landfill which will be capable of processing up to 12,000 tonnes of material each year. | $500,000 | $3.58m |
| Yarriambiack Shire | Warracknabeal’s transfer station will be upgraded and the neighbouring landfill closed to allow for more recyclables to be collected, including agricultural soft plastics like grain bags and tarpaulins. | $140,000 | $290,000 |
| Camperdown Compost | A facility upgrade includes development of improved compostables receival and storage areas, upgraded screening and pre-sorting processes including plastic extraction equipment, new aeration and watering systems to maximise the effectiveness of the composting process. | $500,000 | $2.67m |
| iGas Operations Pty Ltd | A new waste-to-energy facility will be established at the Maddingley Brown Coal site near Bacchus Marsh. The plant will process 100,000 tonnes of waste a year, including material from plantation timber processing, construction and industrial waste, plastics and product left over from paper making. | $500,000 | $29.86m |
| Integrated Recycling | This Mildura company makes timber replacement products from recycled plastics. It is upgrading its raw material storage area and upgrading one of its production lines to double production capacity. Its products are sold throughout Australia. | $130,000 | $420,000 |
| Pinegro Products | An enclosed tunnel composting facility will be built near Morwell on the company’s existing 8.9-hectare site. Compost will be made in climate-controlled tunnels which manage leachate waters and reduce odour. The project includes construction of buildings, four composting tunnels, air and water treatment systems and a computer-controlled processing and management system. The company currently has an open windrow composting system. | $500,000 | $5m |
| Western Composting Technology | The company plans to boost production of compost made from food and green organic material at its Shepparton site. This will include diverting an extra 4500 tonnes a year from landfill by using commercial food waste from commercial collections in the Barwon and South West Victoria regions, the Goulburn Valley, Loddon-Mallee and north-east Victoria. | $215,302 | $717,675 |