A new fund will support technologies and processes to recycle plastic, paper, glass, and tyres.
The $100 million Australian Recycling Investment Fund has been established by the federal government to support projects which increase recycling, turn waste into valuable products, and back innovation in waste diversion.
The fund will be managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), and will enable the growth of a circular economy, said Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley.
“Last month’s Meeting of Environment Ministers set a clear message about our commitment to a circular economy and a timetable for banning problem waste exports,” she said.
“Growing our recycling capacity is critical in that process and this scale of investment will make a real difference.”
While methods to recycle each of these products already exist, the fund hopes to improve the technologies that do so, and allow Australian manufacturers to make the most of these streams of materials, and produce new products, said Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans.
“The Fund will help to ensure we significantly increase our recycling rates, turn our waste back into valuable products and encourage innovation so that resources are not lost to landfill,” he said.