Industry leaders have welcomed Federal Government plans to invest in advanced recycling technology through a new $60 million stream of the Recycling Modernisation Fund.
Samantha Read, Chemistry Australia Chief Executive Officer said the new funding opportunity will help stimulate business investment in technologies to create jobs, grow the economy, and increase recycling of a greater range of used plastic products at their end of life.
“The $60 million funding announced by the Federal Government is a great step towards building an advanced recycling industry in Australia,” said Ms Read.
“The Recycling Modernisation funding will support local manufacturers to invest in new technologies that will transform the way Australia manages its valuable plastic resources. Advanced recycling technologies are key to strengthening Australia’s plastics circular economy, allowing a range of waste plastics not captured by existing processes to be upcycled into new plastics.
“CSIRO research has shown advanced recycling has the potential to significantly improve Australia’s plastics recycling and reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfill, while helping Australia achieve its national waste policy objectives and recycling targets.”
Suzanne Toumbourous, Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) Chief Executive Officer, also applauded the extra funding and is calling on the government to “unleash the full potential of a circular economy” by appointing a Minister for Resource Recovery and the Circular Economy.
“As the first country in the world to ban the export of waste plastic, Australia moved early in prioritising onshore recycling capacity. The Recycling Modernisation Fund has been essential to this endeavour,” Toumbourous said. “But a move to integrated circular economy outcomes is much broader than resource recovery and recycling: it requires a concerted effort across Australia’s manufacturing, technology and innovation sectors.
“To see the full potential of funding such as this, we should be pursuing another world first – the appointment of a Minister for Resource Recovery and the Circular Economy. It makes perfect sense to create a new Ministerial role that can work across all these relevant portfolios.”
The $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) aims to drive progress towards the Government’s targets for 70 per cent of plastic packaging recycled or composted, and 50 per cent of recycled content in packaging by 2025.
For more information, visit: www.pm.gov.au
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