A new mixed recycling plant at Caboolture will divert 653 tonnes of waste from landfill and create 12 ongoing jobs.
The Casafico operation is turning glass bottles and polystyrene into building materials and next year will begin producing masonry blocks from waste aggregate, removing quarried materials from the process.
Queensland State Development Minister Grace Grace visited the Caboolture plant, which was backed by a $175,000 state and Federal Government investment through the Recycling Modernisation Fund.
On completion, projects announced under the Recycling Modernisation Fund, across all jurisdictions, are expected to add 1.3 million tonnes of processing capacity every year, diverting valuable materials from landfill for reuse, and supporting new jobs.
When combined with co-investment from all states and industry, the Recycling Modernisation Fund will give a $1 billion boost to Australian recycling.
Recycling innovation is at the centre of the Queensland Government’s plans for the state to recover 80 per cent of all waste and achieve 65 per cent recycling rates across all waste types by 2030.
The new mixed recycling plant at Caboolture is producing Vetro Uno, a rendering product made from 66 per cent recycled glass, which replaces virgin sand.
By the end of July, the plant will start turning polystyrene into a levelling coat which finishes a building surface before rendering.
By mid 2025, Casafico will also be producing Tecoblock masonry building blocks from mixed waste.
The State Government is further encouraging innovation in the recycling and resource recovery industries through the Queensland Recycling and Jobs Fund.
Under the fund, $45 million in state funding continues to be available for large-scale projects tackling waste in three key areas: commercial and industrial waste, renewable energy technologies, and electrical and electronic products and batteries.
Applicants can apply for financial assistance of up to $10 million (excluding GST), to a maximum of 50 per cent of the total eligible project cost. Initially, $45 million is being allocated to this program.
Grace said the government had heard industry’s concerns that achieving some of Queensland’s 2030 waste diversion targets continues to be a challenge.
“This funding will provide critical assistance to industry to grow its reprocessing and recycling capacity,” Grace said. “It also has the potential to address big issues such as solar panel waste – a growing problem in Queensland, which leads the country in rooftop solar panel adoption.”
Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Senator for Queensland, Anthony Chisholm said the Recycling Modernisation Fund is great news for the environment, but it’s also great news for the economy. For every job in landfill, there are three jobs in recycling.
“We’re backing 24 proposed recycling projects across Queensland, which will create 740 jobs and process an extra 364,000 tonnes of waste. This project is just one of the more than 30 projects completed so far through our $250 million fund,” he said.
“Queensland is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We want to protect the state’s future for the generations to come and that takes all levels of government working together to develop solutions like this project.”
The $45 million industry program is open until funding is exhausted.
For more information, visit www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au
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