Australian beverage rivals unite to open country’s largest PET recycling plant

18 Mar 2022 --- Australia’s largest PET recycling plant is now operational and expected to substantially reduce the country’s plastic waste by recycling the equivalent of approximately one billion PET beverage bottles each year. 

The AUD$45 million (US$33 million) plant in Albury-Wodonga has boosted regional jobs and is helping to build a domestic circular economy. It has also increased the amount of locally-sourced and recycled PET in Australia by two-thirds, from around 30,000 tons to over 50,000 tons annually.

The world-class facility is a joint venture partnership between Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management, Asahi Beverages, and new partner Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP). While competitors in the beverage market, CCEP and Asahi Beverages have come together for this joint venture to deliver a significant increase in the volume of PET recycled in Australia.

The plant supported around 225 jobs during its construction and installation and will employ about 40 people, mostly Albury-Wodonga locals, for its 24/7 operations.

Recyclate at hand
About 30,000 tons of PET will be recycled each year and will become recycled raw material to produce new beverage bottles plus other food and beverage packaging in Australia, contributing to closing the loop on recycling.

The plant will deliver other important environmental benefits, including reducing Australia’s reliance on virgin plastic and recycled plastic imports. Solar energy is used to power part of the facility, and a water treatment unit and rainwater tanks will reuse and recycle as much water on-site as possible.

The plant was constructed using the knowledge and expertise of each member of the joint venture, which is trading as Circular Plastics Australia. Cleanaway will provide the plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network, Pact will operate the facility and provide technical and packaging expertise, while Asahi Beverages, CCEP and Pact will buy the recycled plastic from the facility to use in their packaging.The plant will recycle the equivalent of around one billion PET beverage bottles annually.

Second plant in Melbourne
The joint venture is building a second PET plastic recycling facility that will also have the capacity to recycle the equivalent of around one billion PET beverage bottles each year. Construction on the AUD$50 million (US$37 million) plant in Melbourne’s west is scheduled to begin in April 2022 and be completed in 2023.

The Albury-Wodonga project was supported with about AUD$5 million (US$3.7 million) from the NSW Government’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, with the support of the Australian Government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund.

What they said
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said that as Australia works internationally and domestically to reduce plastic waste, it is wonderful to see practical action and commitment coming to fruition in Albury.

“Pact Group made an AUD$500 million (US$369 million) commitment at our first national plastic summit in 2020, and they along with their JV partners Cleanaway, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners have made that a reality today. This demonstrates commitment to our national packaging targets when the supply chain and government work together,” noted Ley.

NSW Environment Minister James Griffin added: “Through our AUD$337 million (US$248 million) Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, the NSW Government contributed AUD$4.8 million (US$3.5 million) to this facility, and another AUD$495,000 (US$365,000) for specialized equipment inside the plant. This investment is helping us achieve our target of tripling plastics recycling in NSW by 2030, and transitioning to a circular economy.”

Pact’s Managing Director and CEO, Sanjay Dayal, said: “The opening of this state-of-the-art facility in Albury-Wodonga is a game-changer for Australia’s plastic recycling industry. We are proud to be part of a sustainable solution to divert plastic waste from landfill and ensure we are recycling and manufacturing our drink bottles and food packaging here in Australia without the need to import plastic material from overseas.”

CCEP’s vice president and general manager for Australia, Pacific and Indonesia, Peter West, commented: “CCEP is committed to playing a leading role in Australia’s circular economy. With our partners, we are working toward creating a closed loop for our bottles where they are used, collected and given another life. This plant, and the future Victorian plant, will complete this loop, help to solve the national rPET shortage and create new jobs for Australian workers. It is a proud moment in our corporate history.”

Edited by Joshua Poole