The new plant is anticipated to create more than 100 local jobs during the construction phase and 45 permanent roles after its completion
The new facility would process around one billion plastic bottles. (Credit: Pact Group.)
A cross-industry partnership comprising Pact Group is set to build a new PET plastic recycling facility in Altona North, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Together with Cleanaway, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), Pact has formed a joint venture to build and operate the new facility.
The new plant is planned to be built in an industrial precinct on Horsburgh Drive. The construction is expected to begin in early 2022, and completed in 2023.
It is anticipated to create more than 100 local jobs during the construction phase and 45 permanent roles after its completion.
Upon completion, the new recycling plant is expected to be the largest of such facilities in Victoria, and increase the PET recycling capacity in the Australian state.
The project represents a capital expenditure of around $50m.
Pact Group CEO and managing director Sanjay Dayal said: “We know from our research that Australian consumers are increasingly demanding packaging that is recycled and recyclable, and this new PET recycling facility in Victoria ticks both of those boxes.
“Pact Group is delighted to have been able to drive a cross industry solution for sustainable beverage bottles and we will continue to work with industry partners and government to create a strong local circular economy.
“This facility is part of our ongoing investment in new state-of-the-art facilities to recycle plastic waste and manufacture sustainable packaging all across Australia.”
The new facility will be the second PET recycling plant to be built by the joint venture, following a similar plant in Albury-Wodonga, which will be operational from next month.
According to the company, the two facilities would process around one billion plastic bottles each, using advanced sorting, washing, decontamination and extrusion technologies.
Each facility would convert the collected plastic bottles into more than 20,000 tonnes of high-quality recycled PET bottles and food packaging.
CCEP and Asahi Beverages have teamed up with Pact and Cleanaway to form the joint venture to increase the amount of PET plastic recycled and reused in Australia.
Cleanaway will provide PET through its collection and sorting network, while Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise.
After processing, Asahi Beverages, CCEP and Pact are expected to buy the recycled PET from the facility to use in their products.
Asahi Beverages Group CEO Robert Iervasi said: “We are constructing this facility to help create a truly circular economy in Victoria and beyond.
“Our consumers can now have increased confidence that when they dispose of their plastic water or soft drink bottle, it will be recycled instead of going to landfill.
“It’s not every day that drinks companies announce they’re building a new recycling plant but we want to help create meaningful change.”