Repurpose It is partnering with Victorian infrastructure projects, businesses and councils to expand recycling recovery projects and integrate waste into road and rail infrastructure across the state.
Through new funding from the Victorian Government, the organisation aims to recover valuable products and reduce waste going to landfill.
Victorian Minister for Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio, officially launched Repurpose It’s new $8.5 million washing plant facility in Epping, which will recover and treat materials previously destined for landfill and convert them into valuable resources.
The Victorian Government invested $500,000 from the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund into the project, which is the first of its kind in Australia.
The project will divert more than 500,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste from landfill each year.
Repurpose It is partnering with Victorian Government projects, including the Level Crossing Removal Project, Metro Trains, North East Link and the Western Distributor, to integrate waste into road and rail infrastructure across the state.
The grant comes from the first round of the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund, which has awarded $14.5 million to support 47 projects through three rounds of the program.
“We’re supporting large-scale infrastructure projects like this one to reduce Victoria’s dependence on landfills, create new jobs and drive investment,” Ms Ambrosio said.
“Our Recycling Industry Strategic Plan is helping Victoria’s recycling sector adjust to changes in world recycling markets so that more material is diverted from landfill.”
The latest round of the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund is now open, with grants between $40,000 and $500,000 available to support greater sorting, improve recovery and reprocessing priority materials such as plastic, paper, cardboard and glass.
A further $1.2 million is also available to support the market development of recycled materials, under round two of the $4.5 million Research, Development & Demonstration Program.
Applications for the fourth round of the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund are now open.
View more information on Round 4 of the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund here.
