Veolia has been at the forefront of innovative recycling solutions for decades, and today, to celebrate National Recycling Week, launches RECYCLEPAK™ to its Australian customers. RECYCLEPAK targets hard to recycle items such as small e-waste, snack wrappers and plastic straws, and finds dedicated recycling or recovery methods that responsibly diverts them from landfill.
The initiative stems from Veolia’s long-standing commitment to the environment and is designed to help businesses navigate the disposal challenges they face for products without conventional recycling solutions.
Hard to recycle items cannot be processed through a standard Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in the same way as cardboard, plastic bottles and glass, because they require specific separation and treatment processes. When these items end up at a MRF, they are unable to be recovered and are instead sent to landfill.
The RECYCLEPAK scheme addresses these challenges by finding alternate disposal methods that ensure hard to recycle items end up at dedicated facilities where they are treated properly, generating a better environmental outcome.
This solution achieves a higher recovery rate of materials, supports Australians to move up the waste hierarchy – away from landfilling and towards recycling – and importantly, aligns with the nation’s target of an 80 per cent recovery rate by 2030.
“Until we start to see a standardisation in the way products are designed, making them 100% recyclable, and commonly recyclable, our ability to keep them in use is limited. While we continue to support manufacturers to design products with practical end-of-life solutions, RECYCLEPAK will allow us to prevent hard to recycle materials from being unnecessarily sent to landfill,” Richard Kirkman, CEO of Veolia Australia and New Zealand said.