Joint media release: More than $44 million to help significantly reduce waste in WA

The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water
The Hon Reece Whitby MLA, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Action

The Federal and Western Australian Labor governments are co-investing $44.1 million in nine new recycling projects to improve recycling capabilities across Perth and in regional areas.

In total, the nine projects will divert an additional 143,000 tonnes of material from Western Australia’s landfills every year and support 246 ongoing and construction jobs.

The new and upgraded facilities will sort, process and recycle used plastics, tyres, paper and cardboard into valuable new products, such as high-quality plastic pipe.

Funded projects include a tyre recycling and devulcanization facility that will process 12,000 tonnes of off-the-road tyres each year. Devulcanization is the process of converting waste tyres into material that can be used to make new rubber-based products. This is a valuable resource which may otherwise be lost to landfill.

Industry is playing a significant part and contributing an additional $55.7 million to these important projects.

The Recycling Modernisation Fund is accelerating Australia’s transition to a safe circular economy so that when a product is no longer useful or required for its initial purpose, it is either reused, recycled or remanufactured.

Nationally, the Federal Government is increasing recycling capacity in Australia by more than a million tonnes every year while creating over 3,000 jobs, including over 540 in WA.

When combined with co-investment from all states and industry, the Recycling Modernisation Fund will give a $1 billion boost to Australian recycling.

For more information about the Recycling Modernisation Fund visit: Investing in Australia's waste and recycling infrastructure - DCCEEW.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon Tanya Plibersek:

“The Albanese Labor Government is working with states and territories and industry to better manage waste including in Perth and regional WA.

“We know that boosting recycling isn’t just good for the environment, it’s good for jobs - for every one job in landfill there are three jobs in recycling.

“We also know Western Australians and industry want to do the right thing and recycle their waste. This funding is supporting new recycling infrastructure for both households and industry to recycle more of their waste.

“We want to better protect nature and reverse decline for our kids and grandkids – and that takes all levels of Government working together.

“Investment in recycling is great for nature and great for jobs.”

Quotes attributable to Western Australian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Action, the Hon Reece Whitby:

“Western Australia is making strong progress towards a sustainable future including through recycling.

“I am pleased to see the Commonwealth government recognising Western Australian industry and supporting job creation in WA through activity that will divert thousands of tonnes of material from landfill.

“We know Western Australians support our move to a more circular economy, shown through the State’s support for Plan for Plastics, and the Cook Government’s commitment to supporting more recycling at industry level.

“With Western Australia generating almost half of the nation’s off-the-road mining tyre waste, the Cook Government is particularly pleased to be supporting multiple projects which will assist the mining industry to improve the recovery and recycling off-the-road tyres”.

Background – funded projects

AusWaste Recycling Pty Ltd received $10 million to build a new paper and cardboard processing facility to increase WA’s capacity for domestic sorting, processing and manufacturing of paper and cardboard materials by 50,000 tonnes each year.

East-West Pilbara Rubber Recycling Pty Ltd received $675,000 worth of land allocation to establish a dedicated off-the-road tyre recycling and devulcanization facility in Port Hedland capable of processing 12,000 tonnes each year.

Matters Enterprises Pty Ltd received $5 million to establish a new end-of-life off-the-road tyre collection, sorting and grading facility in Newman in the Pilbara. It will also purchase, install and commission off-the-road tyre recycling and rubber recycling technology at RubberGem’s existing facility in Rockingham.

Pro-Pac Group Pty Ltd received $2.5 million to build capability and capacity to remanufacture soft plastic recycled content into high performance packaging at its existing industrial and agricultural film manufacturing facility in Kewdale.

Remondis Australia Pty Ltd received $8.5 million to expand its current plastic waste processing operations at a purpose-built recycling facility located in Jandakot.

Shire of Exmouth received $255,000 to purchase and install a horizontal baler machine and storage facility to bale large volumes of cardboard for recycling.

T C Waste (WA) Pty Ltd trading as D & M Waste Management received $4.3 million worth of land allocation to establish a Pilbara facility providing efficient management of end-of-life HDPE pipe from remote mine sites transforming it to high quality pipes for water management.

Veolia Recycling & Recovery ANZ Pty Ltd received $8.3 million to install new equipment at the Bibra Lake Material Recovery Facility to enable the secondary sorting of mixed fibre. The upgraded sorting facility has been designed to accept 40,000 tonnes of mixed paper and cardboard.

Complete Tyre Solutions Tyre Recycling Pty Ltd received $4.5 million to expand tyre rubber crumb recycling at its Neerabup tyre recycling facility. This project will have the capacity to recover up to 3,624 tonnes each year of end-of-life tyres, including the tyres used on mining haul trucks.