Achieving circularity: ResourceCo

ResourceCo has invested over $40 million in new plants and machinery, in what is the most ambitious capital investment program in its history.

The Global Leaders’ Summit on Climate held last month, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled for later this year, called on all leaders everywhere to take urgent climate action.

The UN chief called on the international community to make this “a decade of transformation.”

He stressed that “we need a green planet – but the world is on red alert.”

Growing international and national focus on a greener and circular economy are contributing to an unrelenting focus on resource recovery.

As national and state policies focus more directly on driving circular economy outcomes, there is an accelerated effort from industry to support that shift through innovation and investment.

“True change from a linear to a circular model is not an easy one,” Jim Fairweather, ResourceCo CEO, says.

“The move towards a Circular Economy focuses on redefining growth, with positive society-wide outcomes.”

The concept recognises the importance of the economy needing to work effectively at all scales – for big and small businesses, for organisations and individuals, globally and locally, making sure the earth’s limited resources are sustained for future generations.

“The ResourceCo journey towards achieving circularity through a sustainable and collaborative approach has resulted in repurposing over 50 million tonnes of materials, reduced considerable harmful carbon and greenhouse emissions; and made us Australia’s largest energy from waste producer,” Fairweather says.

He adds that ResourceCo has progressed sustainably towards achieving genuine circular economy outcomes, but now more than ever, it has an opportunity as a global leader in resource recovery to lead by example.

“Sustainability is at the core of our business operations and we are acutely conscious of the role we can play in not only helping to build Australia’s circular economy, but in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goal of creating a better world by 2030,” Fairweather says.

“The opportunity for growing Australia’s $15 billion waste and resource recovery industry is clear, but it can only truly be realised through stronger industry participation, harmonisation of the regulatory framework through policy consistency, sustainable government procurement policies and investment in growing public awareness.”

Bringing 30 years of industry experience to the fore, ResourceCo provides a unique road map for exploring the elements that need to converge for Australia to be truly successful in its quest to drive circularity in the economy.

“We’re focused on providing innovative solutions and scaling up our operations in a way that builds on our strong track record in delivering sustainable economic, environmental and socially responsible outcomes,” Fairweather says.

“To achieve that we have increased the sophistication of our plants and machinery, ultimately expanding our capacity to cater to growing local and global demand and further support the roll-out of the waste export bans.

“We have invested over $40 million on new plants and machinery in what is the most ambitious capital investment program in our history, with new plants planned for Sydney, Perth, and the Pilbara this year.”

That includes the launch of a new multi-million-dollar plant at Eskine Park in Sydney for ResourceCo’s tyre recycling division Tyrecycle.

It will expand the company’s production capacity for tyre-derived-fuel and rubber crumb (used in road construction), ahead of the December 2021 ban on the export of whole-baled tyres.

“We are definitely encouraged by the collective efforts to position the local resource recovery industry to become globally competitive, with recycling and clean energy being one of the six priority areas under the Australian Governments $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing strategy,” Fairweather says.

“We have made great progress so far but much needs to be done.

“ResourceCo is committed to doing what it can to achieve real change and leave a better planet in a better state than we found it.”

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