Pact Group, Cleanaway, and Asahi Beverages signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a plastic pelletising facility in Albury/Wodonga.
The facility is to have a capacity to process 28,000 tonnes of plastic bottles and other recyclables into flake and food-grade pellets, which will be used as raw material to produce packaging for food and beverages. The plant is expected to be operational by December next year.
Cleanaway will provide available feedstock through its collection and sorting network. Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise, and Asahi Beverages and Pact will buy most of the recycled pellets from the facility to use in its packaging products.
The proposed facility will be in Albury/Wodonga to service markets across the Australian east coast. The facility is expected to create about 30 local jobs.
Pact’s managing director and CEO, Sanjay Dayal, said establishing the facility would be a meaningful step in improving the plastics value chain. “The arrangement is clearly aligned with our vision to lead the circular economy and will support Pact in achieving our 2025 Sustainability Promise to offer 30 per cent recycled content across our packaging portfolio,” Dayal said.
Cleanaway CEO and managing director, Vik Bansal, said the partnership would create valuable raw materials from the recyclables Cleanaway collects. “It is a natural extension of our value chain and expands our footprint of prized assets,” he said.
Group CEO of Asahi Beverages, Robert Iervasi, said “This venture will allow us to use Australian sourced recycled plastic resins to assist in meeting our sustainability commitment to transition our portfolio to recycled plastics.”
The project was supported by a grant to Cleanaway from the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW Government’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
