Australia’s largest PET recycling facility is now operational, using a recoSTAR PET 215 HC iV+ PET bottle-to-bottle recycling line from Starlinger (Vienna; www.starlinger.com), which produces 2.5 t of rPET per hour.

The AUD 45 mn (EUR 30.4 mn) plant in Albury-Wodonga is being run by Circular Plastics Australia – a JV between Pact Group (Richmond, Australia; www.pactgroup.com), Cleanaway Waste Management (Melbourne; www.cleanaway.com.au), Asahi Beverages (Melbourne; www.asahi.com.au), and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (Uxbridge, UK; www.cocacolaep.com).

Related: Feasibility study for circular economy / Chance of advanced recycling plant in Victoria

The plant aims to annually recycle 30,000 t of post-consumer PET – equivalent to around 1 bn bottles – collected via container deposit schemes and kerbside pick-up, and use food-grade rPET pellets as raw material to produce new beverage bottles and other food packaging.

The joint venture involved in the Albury-Wodonga plant is building a second PET plastics reclaim facility also capable of recycling the equivalent of around 1 bn PET beverage bottles each year. Construction of the plant in Melbourne is scheduled to be completed in 2023.