Thanks for visiting our new website. As you browse through the site, please make a note of your experience and share your feedback with us at this link.
To continue browsing, close this notification and use the link at the top of the page to provide your feedback at the end of the session.
Cleanaway welcomes the official commencement of the Western Australian Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) and acknowledges the hard work to get the scheme up and running in challenging circumstances.
“I congratulate the McGowan Government for the introduction of the CDS and the huge effort in getting the scheme up and running during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a step in the right direction towards achieving a circular economy,” said Cleanaway’s CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal.
“At Cleanaway we have seen firsthand the environmental, economic and social benefits of a container return scheme. A system that encourages consumers to separate recycling at the point of disposal improves the quality of the recyclable material, which makes it an even more valuable commodity for reuse.”
“I thank Minister Dawson for his commitment to the roll out of the scheme and look forward to working closely with the McGowan Government towards achieving Our Mission of ‘Making a sustainable future possible’.” said Mr Bansal.
For further information please contact:
Mark Biddulph
Head of Corporate Affairs
Telephone: +61 499 332 601
We’re proud to have made significant progress in FY2020, towards our mission to make a sustainable future possible. Thank you to our teams, customers, communities, stakeholders and investors for another big year at Cleanaway.
July to December 2019
Cleanaway’s Perry Road Office and Collections Depot in Dandenong South officially opened Thursday 4 July 2019. The site brings together operations from three other sites to serve our customers better across the Greater Melbourne region.
We relaunched Our Cleanaway Way, the strategy on a page that gives our people clarity and the tools to achieve our mission,live our company values and align our efforts to take our business from good to great.
Our new website brought together the service capability of our three businesses in one place, with a new design, to deliver the best possible experience for all our key stakeholders.
We introduced Cleanaway Daniels, the new name in healthcare services bringing together cutting-edge collector and disposal technology with industry-leading total waste management, recycling and environmental services.
We announced the largest municipal contract ever awarded in SA, to provide an end-to-end waste management service to City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Marion, City of Adelaide and City of Charles Sturt.
Cleanaway proposed a state-of-the-art energy-from-waste facility that will turn previously unrecyclable red bin waste into electricity to power more than 79,000 homes and businesses in Western Sydney.
We welcomed new team members at Laverton and Derwent Park following the successful acquisition of SKM Recycling Group’s assets. The upgraded network of assets was named Victoria Commingled Resource Recovery which includes two MRFs, a Plastics Recovery Facility (PRF) and two transfer stations in Victoria and a MRF in Tasmania.
Cleanaway was awarded the Workplace of the Year and Operational Excellence awards at the Waste and Resource Recovery Awards (WARR) hosted by Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) and Inside Waste.
As the bushfires impacted the East Coast, we supported customers, employees and local communities with a Bushfire Support Program.
Cleanaway was awarded kerbside waste and recycling services in City of Casey and Shire of Cardinia while engineering excellence continued to drive landfill rehabilitation works.
January to June 2020
All Cleanaway Daniels’ reusable sharps and clinical waste collectors are now 100% Australian-made.
Cleanaway announced a new joint venture with Pact Group and Asahi Beverages to close the loop on plastic bottles.
As the impact of COVID-19 started to peak, we introduced a rapid response decontamination service for workplaces and public spaces.
13 13 39, Cleanaway’s customer service and sales number, was revamped to make it easier for our customers to get in touch.
Contact us to find out more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities, businesses and governments across Australia.
Made in Australia: Why an onshoring strategy should be part of your post COVID-19 plans
Why businesses should consider an onshoring strategy as they plan for reopening and growth
Industry Updates
Highlights
Through our St Mary’s manufacturing facility and existing domestic suppliers, we were able to manufacture additional collectors and reusable sharps containers in a short amount of time.
Through our St Mary’s manufacturing facility and existing domestic suppliers, we were able to manufacture additional collectors and reusable sharps containers in a short amount of time.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, nearly half of all businesses in every industry named supply chain uncertainty as a major risk to business continuity because of COVID-19. It’s something Cleanaway CEO Vik Bansal has long understood, as he guided the business to adjust to industry impacts caused by China’s National Sword policy, COAG’s planned waste expo bans, bushfire and now a pandemic.
Our recent experience onshoring the manufacture of Cleanaway Daniels’ clinical and sharps waste containers showed that moving operations closer to end users created a leaner supply chain and protected against constrained import markets which ultimately meant less wastage and more agility in meeting changes in demand.
Pictured: Locally manufactured clinical waste bins ready to be delivered to healthcare customers
Ability to scale key to maintain essential services
When borders were closed and air transport limited from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of many imported materials and products were impacted across Australia. At the same time, demand for healthcare services ramped up, with our customers needing to have their waste collected up to three times a day or more just to cope with the additional volumes.
The sudden increase in service requirements put a tremendous strain on our resources and had we not completed the onshoring of our container manufacturing capability in January 2020, we would have struggled to meet demand.
Through our St Mary’s manufacturing facility and existing domestic suppliers, we were able to manufacture additional collectors and reusable sharps containers in a short amount of time. With processing plants in all states, including Tasmania, we were able to assemble the assets quickly and dispatch to healthcare facilities.
It was all hands on deck with even our healthcare Account Managers helping to construct bins to ensure that our customers were able to continue providing essential healthcare services without disruption or impact to the health and safety of staff, patients and visitors.
Knock on economic, social and environmental impacts
The manufacturing capability at St Mary’s has been an incredible source of pride for the Cleanaway Daniels team, and has also enabled long-term sustainable employment in NSW.
The added costs from currency exchange rate fluctuations, taxation fees, shipping and fuel charges, were practically eliminated when we localised our supply chain. This meant less money spent on logistics, and more resources available to deliver our service more efficiently. When you reduce shipping and storage, you also reduce emissions and energy usage, which ticks boxes for the environment and our unique selling proposition.
Using completely recycled materials and buying from local suppliers are strong social and environmental propositions that most consumers can get behind. When consumers buy with confidence, the business benefits from positive brand awareness and customer loyalty.
In Albury/Wodonga, a new recycling plant will be built by Circular Plastics Australia, a joint venture by Cleanaway, Pact Group and Asahi Beverages. It’s a perfect example of a circular economy in action – 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 closed loop system will not only reduce the reliance on foreign PET plastic supply and the corresponding risk from market fluctuations but also boost the local economy with over 300 direct and indirect jobs created.
This triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental benefits is how Cleanaway measures our value to customers and stakeholders. Keeping these in mind when making decisions about your business will help minimise your environmental impact, deliver on your commitment to customers and stakeholders, and weather the storm of uncertain economic climates.
Contact us to find out how we support businesses in every sector with our total waste management solutions.
On Friday 14 August Cleanaway completed the acquisition of the Stawell Landfill in Stawell Western Victoria.
The transaction follows the acquisition of the Statewide Recycling collections and transfer station business based in Warrnambool late last year which is performing well despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on the Victorian economy. The acquisition creates an integrated C&I waste management business servicing Western Victoria with a fleet of collections vehicles, a transfer station, a depot and now a landfill.
The Stawell Landfill is licenced to receive putrescible and prescribed waste including asbestos and category C soils which will create opportunities for Cleanaway to internalise volumes currently disposed of via third party landfill operators in Victoria.
The Stawell Landfill team servicing residents and businesses in the area includes Shane Drendel and Michael Wooley.
Following the recent media coverage regarding Cleanaway’s operations in New South Wales, we would like to reiterate how seriously we take our obligations in relation to environmental compliance. In addition to our compliance obligations under environmental licences, Cleanaway is committed to protecting the safety of our employees, our customers, and the wider community in the areas where we operate.
Cleanaway operates approximately 70 sites in New South Wales of which 34 are licenced by the EPA. The scope of our operations in New South Wales is broad and includes collection of municipal waste, collection and disposal of commercial and industrial waste streams, collection and processing of medical and liquid waste, operation of various recycling facilities and operation of New South Wales “Return and Earn” container deposit scheme.
Cleanaway is an industry leader in relation to setting standards for environmental compliance. Where issues of non-compliance with EPA licencing requirements have been identified within its operations, Cleanaway addresses those issues quickly, including reporting and ongoing engagement with the EPA in relation to addressing those issues.
Cleanaway’s CEO and Managing Director, Vik Bansal, said “Over recent years Cleanaway has made significant investment in waste processing infrastructure in New South Wales. In particular, the construction of a container processing facility to support the Return and Earn scheme operated in New South Wales, which has enabled the recycling of over 3 billion containers since its inception. We believe that our industry benefits from clear and firm operational regulations. Where instances of non-compliance are identified, our teams work closely with key stakeholders, including the New South Wales EPA to address those issues.”
For further information, contact:
Mark Biddulph, Head of Corporate Affairs, 0499 332 601
Recycling Modernisation Fund set to generate $600 million in investment
Cleanaway welcomes the announcement of the Recycling Modernisation Fund made at our Eastern Creek facility in NSW
Industry Updates - Resource Recovery
July 7, 2020
Highlights
“This injection gives the waste management industry confidence when investing in infrastructure and innovation. With this fund, governments at all levels, together with industry can invest in building a domestic circular economy.” said Vik Bansal
“This injection gives the waste management industry confidence when investing in infrastructure and innovation. With this fund, governments at all levels, together with industry can invest in building a domestic circular economy.” said Vik Bansal
Cleanaway welcomes the Morrison Government’s $190 million commitment to a new Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) announced by Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley at Cleanaway’s Container Sorting Facility in Eastern Creek yesterday.
Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal said the fund will provide a much-needed boost to Australia’s resource recovery infrastructure and is a positive step towards a circular economy, “This injection gives the waste management industry confidence when investing in infrastructure and innovation. With this fund, governments at all levels, together with industry can invest in building a domestic circular economy.”
Mr Bansal urged stakeholders in the waste management ecosystem to take more ownership of resource recovery at every step of the value chain, “A genuine closed loop solution for materials is needed for a domestic recycling economy to thrive. We hope that the fund will encourage waste generators to take more responsibility for the materials they design and use locally sourced raw materials to further drive the domestic economy.”
Cleanaway, together with Pact Group and Asahi Beverages have proposed a new facility in Albury/Wodonga that will process up to 28,000 tonnes or the equivalent of approximately 900 million plastic bottles into flake and food grade pellets which will be used as a raw material for making food and beverage packaging.
Cleanaway will provide available feedstock through its collection and sorting network. Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise and Asahi Beverages and Pact will buy the majority of the recycled pellets from the facility to use in their packaging products.
Pictured: Cleanaway’s Eastern Creek Container Sorting Facility – Minister for the Environment The Hon Sussan Ley MP, speaks to Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal.
The RMF is expected to generate $600 million of recycling investment, more than 10,000 jobs and divert over 10 million tonnes of waste from landfill through investment in new infrastructure to sort, process and remanufacture materials such as mixed plastic, paper, tyres and glass.
The fund is part of a national strategy to change the way Australia looks at waste, grow the economy, protect the environment and reach a national resource recovery target of 80% by 2030. It follows recent initiatives to boost local recycling through the 2019 National Waste Policy Action Plan, the government ban on exports of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres, and this year’s first ever National Plastics Summit.
The planned waste and recycling transformation is expected to be further strengthened by the introduction of waste legislation to encourage companies to take greater responsibility for the waste they generate, from product design through to recycling, remanufacture or disposal.
Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans said, “Australian companies are turning plastics and household waste into furniture, decking, fencing and clothing, and we are developing new domestic markets for recycled materials by setting national standards for recycled content in roads and making recycled products a focus of procurement for infrastructure, defence estate management and general government purchasing.”
“Companies are already moving with The Pact Group announcing a $500 million investment in facilities, research and technology, Coca Cola Amatil committing to new recycling targets, and Pact, Cleanaway and Asahi Beverages establishing a $30 million recycling facility in Albury.”
Earlier in the year, Cleanaway Daniels completed the onshoring of our reusable sharps containers manufacturing. The onshoring was made possible in large part due to the acquisition of ASP Healthcare which provided Cleanaway with an in-house capability to pelletise and manufacture sharps collectors while increasing the use of recycled material in our operations.
Learn more about Cleanaway’s investment in Australia’s resource recovery infrastructure through our Footprint 2025 strategy.
Can you actually save on the cost of doing business during COVID-19?
How businesses can optimise their waste services to deal with changes in volume and waste generation caused by COVID-19
Industry Updates
May 19, 2020
Highlights
Businesses have reported increased savings by reviewing bin systems and source separating waste materials into streams to make the most of resource recovery and collection schedules.
Businesses have reported increased savings by reviewing bin systems and source separating waste materials into streams to make the most of resource recovery and collection schedules.
Stay-at-home restrictions, social distancing and heightened safety measures have changed the way businesses operate during COVID-19. How can businesses stay on top of evolving waste needs in this environment?
Retailers
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 68% of businesses have used new channels to deliver goods or services, introduced new products or experienced changes in volumes as a result of COVID-19. With the changing mix of demand, supply and product comes more volume and diversified waste streams.
A new waste stream can actually reduce the cost of waste. A general waste bin is charged by weight, meaning the heavier the bin, the more expensive it is. Diverting heavy, wet material like food scraps to an organics service, and common recyclables like glass and cardboard, can save retailers a large sum on the general waste bill.
Retailers experiencing higher volumes of packaging waste should consider a dedicated cardboard service. Cardboard typically takes up a lot of space in the general waste bin and a cardboard service can reduce your general waste frequency. It’s also better for recycling as the cardboard collected through the service is of higher quality and free from contamination such as food and liquids.
Property managers and retailers looking for a hassle-free waste management service can contact us for an assessment of their waste streams.
Manufacturers and wholesalers
Logistical challenges and declines in demand from domestic and overseas markets are creating higher volumes of rejected product for manufacturers, including branded stock and perishable goods such as meats, fruits and vegetables.
Manufacturers dealing with expired, damaged or otherwise unwanted products may need a secure product destruction service to prevent these goods from re-entering the market, being stolen or illegally dumped into the environment. This service offers secure transport and storage of unwanted goods to processing facilities, where the unrecyclable material is safely destroyed and cardboard, glass and organics are recovered for reuse.
Food manufacturers looking for a sustainable recycling service for bulk food waste can contact us for a no obligation waste health check.
Healthcare facilities
There can never be a compromise on upholding the standards of infection control and safety compliance at healthcare and aged care facilities. But is it possible to be safe and sustainable at the same time? Higher volumes of medical waste risks more plastic being sent to landfill when disposed of in single-use bins. Sharpsmart reusable containers offer the safety and hygiene standards required for medical waste disposal with maximum strength hardened plastic, while preventing 940,000kgs of single-use plastic from being sent to landfill every year.
Learn more about our safe and compliant waste management services for aged care facilities.
Pictured: Our 100% Australian-made reusable containers ready to service healthcare facilities across the country in response to COVID-19. Cleanaway Daniels makes these reusable containers at our St Mary’s facility in NSW.
Businesses with new or multiple waste streams
For businesses juggling new or multiple waste streams under their new model, consolidated account management can take a load off the to do list. A single point of contact for services such as general waste, recycling, grease trap cleaning and sanitary waste means less time spent managing accounts and better value for money – a crucial factor under normal circumstances and especially when facing increasing pressures on costs in these challenging times.
Get ready for the new normal with safety and hygiene measures
The Department of Education, Skills and Employment reported that 68% of businesses surveyed have developed new health and safety rules such as frequent cleaning schedules and requiring staff to use hand sanitiser. As businesses reopen and footfall increases, regular decontamination of handrails, chairs, doorframes and other commonly touched surfaces will be important to stop harmful diseases from spreading.
Manufacturing plants and factory environments will benefit from a large-scale decontamination service that can cover wide areas of open space efficiently. So too will the logistics, warehousing, rail, road, air and sea transport sectors as economies start to reopen and activity picks up.
Learn more about a total waste management solution for the logistics and construction industries.
At Cleanaway, we developed a fogging nozzle technology together with Hammelmann Australia and Enviromist to offer a decontamination service that ensures a thorough clean without damage to people, property or assets.
It’s also a good time for businesses to look at their bathroom and sanitary services, septic and grease trap cleaning. Do you call for a service only when your pipes are blocked and overflowing? Waiting until someone falls ill due to an unsanitary environment would be unacceptable in the current climate, so it’s good idea to protect the safety of employees and customers with a scheduled service instead of on-call.
How has COVID-19 changed your waste profile?
A waste health check can help you analyse your waste streams to identify opportunities for diversion and efficiencies throughout the business – from the supply chain to design, manufacture and disposal. An audit of waste streams will tell you exactly what’s going in your bin, where it comes from and how to better manage the whole process.
Businesses have reported increased savings by employing new waste management technologies, source-sorting waste materials into common streams, and by reviewing current collection systems with their waste management provider.
Having effective waste management policies in place will make it cheaper and easier for your business to comply with waste regulations while reducing any potential impact your business processes may have on the environment.
All our sorting and processing facilities continue to be operational and we encourage everyone to keep putting their recyclables in the right bin.
As businesses and communities work to respond to COVID-19, you can be assured that our waste services remain operational. Waste management is considered an essential service which means Cleanaway will continue to support our customers and councils while working to keep our people, contractors and members of the public safe.
How is Cleanaway protecting staff while continuing service?
To minimise the risk of transmission within our teams and assist with social distancing, we’re staggering shift start and finish times (particularly for front line operational staff such as drivers) and using all available space in all our office or admin buildings to separate our teams.
We’ve also stopped non-essential visitors to our sites, we’re using technology to replace face-to-face interactions and making the most of work-from-home strategies wherever possible. We have a COVID-19 Response Team in place that meets daily to ensure a timely and effective response, and is consistent with guidance provided by the Australian Government Department of Health, State Health Authorities, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Comcare.
Will my waste services continue uninterrupted?
Collections will continue as usual although schedules may change to stagger shifts and manage movement through our depots. We have received approval from some councils to lift curfews to allow us to collect earlier in the morning and minimise disruption of service. Residents should keep up to date with the latest information from local councils while customers will be informed of any changes to their schedule.
Is it safe to touch my bin?
We encourage you to put out your bins as you normally would, while taking care to maintain personal hygiene. Wash your hands before and after taking your bin out as washing your hands remains the best defence against transferring the virus. Bins collected through our automatic truck arms are designed to minimise human contact while manual collections will be handled by staff with the appropriate gloves. If you see our drivers maintain a safe social distance of at least 1.5 metres and minimise verbal interactions. A friendly wave from the window would be great!
Is it safe to drop off waste at Cleanaway facilities?
Our staff are equipped with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment to follow operational and hygienic practices. Drivers are encouraged to stay in the car when they are on the weighbridge and complete credit card payments while keeping a safe social distance from our staff.
Do I need to continue recycling?
Absolutely. All our sorting and processing facilities continue to be operational and we encourage everyone to keep putting their recycling in the right bin, free of contamination such as food, liquids and soft plastic.
How will you maintain my service if my business goes into lockdown?
If your business is impacted by an isolation situation and you’re concerned about your service, please speak to your account manager. If you do not know your account manager, please call 13 13 39 and ask to speak to a customer service manager about the impact to your site due to COVID-19. We will work with you to develop an appropriate servicing plan.
What plans does Cleanaway have in place if a significant portion of the workforce is impacted?
Cleanaway has a number of measures in place to limit the impact on our teams if an individual has a confirmed case of the virus, including separation of teams and cross-training of staff. Please refer to our Emergency Management Plan for more information. We have a national network of trained professionals to draw on to maintain services. We are also working with our temporary labour providers to ensure access to a sustainable workforce.
Do you offer emergency clean up services? Cleanaway is an experienced emergency response provider, supporting the community through some of our biggest challenges including fires, floods and other large-scale mobilisation of industrial waste and cleaning service. Call us on 13 13 39 to find out more about a public area decontamination or secure product destruction service.
For the latest updates on how Cleanaway is responding to the evolving situation, please visit our website.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible.
Vik Bansal, Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director, reflects on our commitment to the safe and reliable delivery of essential waste services in trying times
Industry Updates
March 20, 2020
Highlights
“The heart and soul of Cleanaway are our operational teams. People who get up earlier than most every single morning, arrive at site or climb into a truck, and set out to service as many of our customers as we can reach in a single day.”
“The heart and soul of Cleanaway are our operational teams. People who get up earlier than most every single morning, arrive at site or climb into a truck, and set out to service as many of our customers as we can reach in a single day.”
I’m attending a lot of meetings at the moment, discussing business continuity plans and providing updates to our stakeholders, and I have been reflecting on what a difficult start to the year it has been. It was just weeks ago that I was receiving daily updates on the impact to our teams in fire affected areas in NSW and Victoria, and now we’re discussing how to protect our people and our business from COVID-19.
One thing that has been consistent throughout both these challenges has been the unwavering commitment from our people to keep delivering essential waste services. The safe and healthy functioning of our society replies on essential services like water, energy and waste. Without these services we create even greater risk for the health of individuals and the spread of disease.
As the leader of a waste company, I take this responsibility very seriously. We’re currently working closely with state governments to develop management plans, and with local governments and customers to ensure volumes are cleared efficiently.
What I know is that at the heart and soul of Cleanaway are our operational teams. People who get up earlier than most every single morning, arrive at the depot or climb into a truck, and set out to service as many of our customers as we can reach in a single day.
One customer has seen a 27% increase in cardboard collections to manage the stock movement through their stores. The mobilisation from our teams has been nothing short of amazing with drivers working extra hours to clear the increased waste so that stores can restock to provide food and supplies for communities.
In January and February when the bushfires were at their height, I was hearing of the extraordinary lengths our teams were going to maintain essential waste collections. During an emergency supermarket clearance, trying to remove spoiled and damaged food so that the store could be restocked, three trucks were caught in a road closure and the drivers spent the night on the side of the road. We also had people who left their homes which were endangered by fire so that they could collect waste from evacuation centres, while others stayed away from home to be able to help out.
The waste and recycling industry is an interesting space at the moment with movement towards the circular economy, energy-from-waste and renewed focus on the quality of recycling. We will continue to progress our plans to provide the right infrastructure to provide these solutions. But at the foundation of it all is the safe and reliable collection of material.
Our teams will continue to provide that essential service to the community and I’m proud of the true blue spirit we’ve shown, and will continue to show, during these changing times.
Learn more about Cleanaway’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan and how we’re maintaining our essential services safely and sustainably.
National Plastics Summit 2020: Plastics and the circular economy
Cleanaway’s Mark Biddulph summarises his National Plastics Summit 2020 presentation on creating a circular economy for plastics
Industry Updates
March 17, 2020
Highlights
Continuing industry and government engagement will go a long way to achieving even more sustainable outcomes for plastics and the domestic recycling economy.
Continuing industry and government engagement will go a long way to achieving even more sustainable outcomes for plastics and the domestic recycling economy.
Head of Corporate Affairs Mark Biddulph recently presented at the National Plastics Summit 2020 in Canberra. Over 200 senior representatives from government, industry and community sectors participated in the forum, which showcased new solutions for plastic waste to address targets in the National Waste Policy Action Plan and inform the upcoming National Plastic Plan.
By Mark Biddulph
The concept of a circular economy is a hot topic in conversations around plastics and rightfully so. A circular economy closes the loop on materials we consume by using a recycled product in the remanufacturing process. In addition to creating a sustainable supply chain of materials, it allows for new technology, innovation, industries, markets and jobs to flourish.
Critical to a circular economy is a thriving market for recycled materials – including domestic production. Without ready demand, recyclable materials are at risk of being stockpiled or worse, sent to landfill. Government, industry and individuals all have a role to play in growing the demand for recyclable material.
This includes regulations to improve material quality for use in manufacturing. Federal and State Government support is also required to invest in reprocessing and remanufacturing infrastructure, incentives for domestic use of recyclable commodities and standardisation of recycling rules and levies. The harmonisation of waste levies takes away the incentive for long-distance waste transport which in turn encourages a consistent infrastructure strategy and investment across jurisdictions.
Circular economy for plastics in action
Container return schemes encourage consumers to separate recycling at the point of disposal. At Cleanaway we have seen firsthand the environmental, economic and social benefits of a container return scheme and how it improves the quality of recyclable materials.
NSW’s container deposit scheme has collected more than 3 billion containers in just over two years. Our Eastern Creek Container Sorting Facility sends 100% of materials received to reputable recyclers and depending on the markets for recyclable commodities, up to 75% of all materials received are sold domestically which feeds into the local recycling economy.
The recent partnership between Cleanaway, Pact Group and Asahi Beverages to build a plastic pelletising facility is an excellent example of industry-led innovation and investment. Over 900 million plastic bottles will be recycled and reused as raw material for the production of food and beverage packaging.
The partnership will see Cleanaway supplying feedstock through our collections network and the new plastic pelletising facility processing used PET bottles into pellets then made into new containers by Asahi Beverages and Pact Group.
We’re excited to be leading the way towards a sustainable future. Continuing industry and government engagement will go a long way to achieving even more sustainable outcomes for plastics and the domestic recycling economy.
Contact us to find out how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities across Australia.
Head of Corporate Affairs Mark Biddulph recently presented at the National Plastics Summit 2020 in Canberra. Over 200 senior representatives from government, industry and community sectors participated in the forum, which showcased new solutions for plastic waste to address targets in the National Waste Policy Action Plan and inform the upcoming National Plastic Plan.