VIC Govt announces $9M hazardous waste facility

A new hazardous waste recycling facility with the capacity to process a third of the Victoria’s solvent waste each year will be built in Dandenong.

According to Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, the $9 million recycling facility will be the biggest of its kind in Victoria and among the largest in the country.

The facility – to be built by REMONDIS Australia – will give cleaning solvents, inks and paints a second life, turning them into products that can be re-used by industry, such as secondary cleaning liquids used in spray guns, alternative fuels and raw solvent material.

“It’ll put a massive dent into the 29,000 tonnes of recyclable liquid hazardous waste that is disposed of each year in Victoria, while reducing the need for storage which carries fire, health and environmental risks if managed inappropriately,” D’Ambrosio said.

REMONDIS will build three distillation units within the new facility, which will be able to process up to 9600 tonnes of hazardous solvent waste once up and running in 2024.

The Victorian Government is contributing $1.3 million to the project through a Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund grant, with a further $10.2 million available for companies looking to invest in hazardous waste management.

“Being recognised by the Victorian Government this way is testimony to our abilities when it comes to liquid hazardous waste recycling,” a REMONDIS statement reads.

“This facility will be a game-changer for solvent recycling in Victoria, turning what would normally be waste into something that can be reused in various products.”

REMONDIS has also acquired Waste2Water Technologies and Aquasoil Recycling, both based in Somerton.

Waste2Water is a non-hazardous liquid waste processing facility and collection service specialising across many fields including the management of contaminated site water, contaminated storm water and car wash pit cleaning.

AquaSoil specialises in the disposal of drilling and non-destructive digging mud.

“These acquisitions give REMONDIS a strategic liquid waste management foothold in Melbourne’s north, following the acquisitions of Eastern Liquid Waste Services and Organic Environmental Solutions in the city’s east and south east in 2019,” the statement reads.