A longstanding Melbourne company is rebranding to better reflect its expanded capabilities in resource recovery.
Ask what inventing better circular futures means to Darren Thorpe, and he’ll tell you it’s about innovation, environmental impact, and leaving a legacy for the next generation.
As the Managing Director of the newly rebranded APR Recycling, Darren’s drive is deeply personal, often fuelled by watching his own grandchildren engage with the industry.
In May, Australian Paper Recovery officially rebranded to APR Recycling. For Darren, it’s more than a name change; it’s recognition of the company’s evolution, having grown alongside Australia’s resource recovery sector.
Moving away from the original name was an emotional hurdle. Darren often describes the company as his “fourth child” – a business built on a family legacy of papermaking that dates back decades. However, he recognises that staying relevant requires moving with the times.
“Australian Paper Recovery has always been my fourth child, so to turn around and change the name has been a really big thing for me,” he says.
“It’s something that took me a long time to come to grips with, because I was passionate, and still am, about Australian Paper Recovery. But we’ve got to move with the times, and when we drill down and look at what we do, we’re in the recycling sector.”
The decision to broaden the company’s identity was sparked in 2019 when Darren discovered that more than 40 per cent of the rejected waste in a material recovery facility consisted of soft plastics.
This realisation launched a mission to find a second life for materials that were previously deemed non-recyclable. Today, APR Recycling operates under four key internal pillars: paper and cardboard, kerbside, plastics, and plastics to oil.
The new visual identity was crafted to reflect this diverse, circular approach. The logo represents circularity, illustrating the company’s commitment to keeping resources in use rather than letting them fall out of the economy.
This is paired with the tagline “Inventing better futures” – a phrase Darren feels perfectly captures the company’s spirit of innovation which has allowed it to spearhead several ambitious projects aimed at closing the loop on problematic waste streams.
These include the development of an advanced pyrolysis plant, a chemical recycling solution designed to transform soft plastics into high-quality oil that can be repurposed as a feedstock for new products, and a state-of-the-art sorting facility that uses artificial intelligence and optical sorting technology to separate polymers and remove contaminants.
Combined, these projects will create an industrial pathway to manage complex plastics on Australian soil.
Being a pioneer in the Australian market has come with its share of challenges. Darren acknowledges that many in the industry take a “wait and see” approach when it comes to new technologies and business models.
He draws inspiration from the story of Judo Bank; an Australian bank built for small and medium businesses, whose founder faced dozens of rejections before finding the right partners. He sees a similar path for APR Recycling, noting that as it proves its model to recycle soft plastics into oil works, others are beginning to pay attention.
Darren is ready to showcase the new brand to those who may still only associate the company with its paper-based roots and was a key presenter at Waste 2026 conference in Coffs Harbour.
He says the rebranding is a signal that APR Recycling is ready to lead a national conversation on resource recovery. He hopes that when people think of APR Recycling, they think of a company that “innovates to get the best outcomes for the environment and the future of our kids”. “My grandkids drive me to keep going,” he says. “It’s about educating them early, because you never know who you might influence, to change the world.”
For more information, visit: www.aprrecycling.com.au
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