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Listed zero waste group Close the Loop (ASX: CLG) will join UK-based Sicut Enterprises in playing a key role in a NSW Government initiative announced today to divert more than 12,000 tonnes of soft and hard-to-recycle plastics a year from landfills and transform them into materials for local manufacturing and civil infrastructure including sleepers for local rail networks.
Close the Loop, a Melbourne-headquartered company that is currently subject to a $143.6 million takeover by Sydney’s Adamantem Capital, has received a grant of $2.35 million to set up an advanced mechanical recycling facility in south-west NSW.
The facility will process 4,400 tonnes of mixed post-consumer soft plastics a year, creating plastic pellets to make bins, shipping pallets, crates, tubs and sound walls.
This is one of two new regional projects worth $7.4 million that are being funded by the Australian and NSW governments to tackle plastic waste and drive Australia’s transition to a circular economy.
Close the Loop’s NSW facility will also be used to produce an engineered asphalt additive, known as TonerPlas, which has been used in the M80 Freeway upgrade in Victoria among several other projects.
“We’re thrilled to expand the model into NSW with the support of the Recycling Modernisation Fund,” says Steve Morriss, the head of circular economy at Close the Loop.
“This grant will allow us to manufacture TonerPlas in NSW, using soft plastics waste, and create jobs across the state.
"The best roads in the world use polymer modified binders, so why not use recycled polymers to help make the best roads in Australia?”
Meanwhile, sustainable infrastructure products supplier Sicut Enterprises has received $5 million to build Australia’s first commercial composite sleeper production facility in the state’s north-west.
The facility will transform up to 8,000 tonnes of hard-to-recycle coloured rigid and soft plastics every year into composite railway sleepers for Australian rail infrastructure.
Sicut Australia director Thomas Staley says the facility is the first of its kind for Australia, adding that it will bring to the local circular economy the “transformative impact” on railways that the London-headquartered group is making across Europe and the US.
“This investment is a win for Australia’s railways with better performance and value; a win for consumers with a long-term use for plastic waste; and a win for the environment through reduced embodied carbon and less deforestation,” says Staley.
“This facility will be the first commercial composite sleeper production facility in Australia with the ability to transform thousands of tonnes of plastic waste into thousands of long-life railway sleepers that have a significantly lower carbon footprint than the current alternatives.”
The two projects by Close the Loop and Sicut Enterprises are expected to support a combined 44 ongoing jobs and 16 construction jobs.
“Close the Loop and Sicut are leading the charge in transforming the recycling industry in NSW, demonstrating innovative solutions to cut back on plastic waste,” says Penny Sharpe, the NSW Minister for Climate Change and the Environment.
“Once operational, these cutting-edge facilities will boost our recovery and recycling rates for hard-to-recycle plastics, allowing them to be recirculated into the economy in a safe and sustainable way.
“With landfill in Greater Sydney on track to run out by 2030, investments like these will contribute to the solution.”
The $7.4 million in government funding comprises $1 million from the NSW Government and $6.4 million from the Australian Government’s $60 million Recycling Modernisation Fund’s Plastics Technology stream.
The fund is a national initiative expanding Australia’s capacity to sort, process and remanufacture glass, plastic, tyres, paper and cardboard.
When combined with co-investment from all states, territories and industry, the Recycling Modernisation Fund is expected to boost Australian recycling by about $1 billion.
“I know everyone in NSW wants to do their part to reduce their waste, reuse and recycle household products, and lighten their impact on the planet,” says Tanya Plibersek, the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water.
“This funding is supporting new recycling infrastructure, helping to solve challenges with plastic waste and stop plastics from going to landfill.
“This is great for the environment, but it’s also great for the economy. For every job in landfill, there are three jobs in recycling.”
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