Circular Plastics Australia PET, a joint venture between Cleanaway Waste Management, Pact Group Holdings Group, and Asahi Beverages, has begun work on a new recycling facility in Albury-Wodonga, Australia.

The joint venture was formed in August 2020, following the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding in the first quarter of 2020.

The sod-turning ceremony for the plastic bottle recycling facility was held in February 2021, marking the official start of construction. The plant will produce more than 20,000 tonnes of new recycled PET and food packaging a year, when commissioned in October 2021.

Estimated to cost A$45m ($32m), the project is expected to create more than 300 direct and indirect jobs in various positions, including tradespeople, engineers, and technicians.

The facility is expected to be Australia’s biggest end-to-end R-PET plant and reduce Australia’s reliance on virgin plastic and its recycled plastic imports.

The plant will draw on the expertise of each member of the joint venture. Cleanaway will provide the plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network, Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise while Asahi Beverages and Pact will buy the recycled plastic from the facility to use in their packaging.

The Circular Plastics Australia PET recycling plant will be located at the Nexus Precinct, 10km north of Albury/Wodonga’s CBD in New South Wales, Australia.

The new facility will recycle up to one billion 600ml PET plastic bottles a year, which will be utilised as raw material for manufacturing new bottles. It will also produce recycled plastic using Pact’s packaging and technical expertise for food and beverage packaging.

The plant is expected to increase the capacity of locally sourced and recycled PET produced in the country from 30,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes.

The plastic feedstock and containers to be recycled by the plant will be collected through Cleanaway’s material recovery facilities, sorting and collection network, and the NSW Return and Earn Scheme. 

The PET recycling plant will support the successful delivery of Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets, which include 100% of the country’s packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable, 70% plastic packaging will be recyclable, or compostable, and 30% average recycled content will be included across all packaging by 2025.

Circular Plastics Australia is a joint venture between Cleanaway Waste Management, Pact Group Holdings Group, and Asahi Beverages.

Cleanaway Waste Management is a leading total waste management, industrial, and environmental services company in Australia. The company has supported businesses for more than 50 years and delivered solutions with extraordinary benefits for its customers and communities.

Formed in 2002, Pact Group is the largest manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging products in Australasia and has a growing presence in Asia.

Asahi Beverages is one of the leading beverage companies in Australia and New Zealand. The company was formed in 2014 through the integration of the Schweppes Australia and Asahi Premium Beverages businesses in Australia, and Independent Liquor in New Zealand.