In an attempt to combat climate change and reduce waste while simultaneously creating new jobs and industries, the state and federal governments have announced they will be by co-investing in Victoria’s recycling systems, including a $3 million investment to IQ Renew for a large recycling facility in Altona.
As part of the state government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund, the Altona plant would seek to recycle 30,000 tonnes of soft plastic into food grade soft plastic and washed flakes of low-density polyethylene.
Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek and Victorian Environment and Climate Action Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced $14.26 million of funding for new recycling infrastructure projects in Victoria on Thursday, September 29.
“We’ve been leading the way with the biggest recycling system reform in the state’s history and it’s good to have support in Canberra to hit our target of diverting 80 per cent of waste from landfill and help create a thriving circular economy,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“We’re finding new ways to use organic waste in our parks and our paddocks, creating jobs and cutting emissions as we halve food waste by 2030.”
The grant funding would give another life to about 150,000 tonnes of Victoria’s food and garden waste and about 30,000 tonnes of soft plastics.
The state government said seven organic recycling projects would also be funded through the Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund, which diverts up to 3.4 million tonnes of food organic and garden organic [FOGO] waste from landfills across Australia every year, improving the quality of recycled organic products, such as compost, soil conditioners and mulches, by removing material that contaminates them.
The recycled food and garden waste from these facilities would boost soil quality on farms and help create up to 134 local jobs during the construction phase.
