Resource Recovery Archives | Page 2 of 11

The circular solution that can solve Australia’s soft plastics recycling challenge

Partnerships - Resource Recovery

November 23, 2022

Highlights

The total investment is currently estimated at over $500 million and is projected to create 185 direct and over 2,900 indirect local jobs.

Tags: Plastics

Highlights

The total investment is currently estimated at over $500 million and is projected to create 185 direct and over 2,900 indirect local jobs.

The collapse of the country’s largest soft plastics collection and recycling scheme run by REDCycle, shines a bright light on the need for large scale, circular and higher value solutions if we are to transform used soft plastics like food containers and shopping bags back into food grade virgin quality plastic that can then be reused in the original packaging applications.

To this end Cleanaway and Qenos have been working on a plan to collect about 100,000 tonnes of soft plastics each year via existing household garbage collections.

Qenos CEO Stephen Bell said: “Qenos and Cleanaway have been working together on a Circular Plastics Project for over nine months that will initially target the collection of 100,000 tonnes of soft plastics per annum. This is more than ten times the size of total annual volumes collected through the REDcycle scheme, and through investment in advanced recycling infrastructure, our companies would together be able to close the loop on soft plastics.” The total investment is currently estimated at over $500 million and is projected to create 185 direct and over 2,900 indirect local jobs.

The cross-value chain partnership brings together the unique capabilities of Australia’s only domestic manufacturer of polyethylene plastics and Australia’s leading collections and recycling business. Cleanaway will look to partner with councils and commercial customers to collect the plastics and invest in new infrastructure to process these materials into a form that is suitable for advanced processing.

Qenos and Cleanaway propose to jointly invest in the advanced recycling technology that will convert the plastic into feedstock and produce new plastic through pyrolysis. To fully close the loop within Australia, Qenos would also invest in further upgrades to its existing plants to convert this recycled feedstock into a fully circular polyethylene called Alkanew, that can be used to remanufacture the very same packaging. This technology is already operating at commercial scale overseas.

The two companies have completed technical and economic feasibility studies covering all aspects of the circular supply chain and are in the final stages of completing a lifecycle assessment to assess the carbon benefits of the new process. A public summary of the results is expected to be released early 2023. This will be followed by the development of a detailed business case to support the economics of the proposed project. Australian packaging manufacturers have expressed a strong interest in buying Alkanew circular polyethylene when supply comes online, thus truly closing the loop back to the original packaging.

Cleanaway’s CEO Mark Schubert commented “Highly circular, low carbon solutions that serve our key customers, communities and the environment are central to our BluePrint 2030 Strategy. Cleanaway has established itself as the market leader in plastic recycling solutions with innovative partnerships, state-of-the-art facilities, and processing capability across all major polymers. Through the advanced recycling process of pyrolysis, we are proud to be working together with Qenos to develop a scalable solution for household soft plastics. This will provide major retail customers, food manufacturers, and packaging suppliers with enhanced sustainability outcomes through recycling and reuse with the benefit of diverting these materials from landfill.”

The major roadblock for investment to enable this fully circular soft plastic solution within Australia is the unsustainably high energy costs that are challenging the viability of the Qenos operations in Sydney and Melbourne.

Mr Bell has called for the current energy price crisis to be resolved urgently, as a key enabler for creating a circular economy for plastics in Australia. “The government has indicated that it aims to come up with a response to the current energy price crisis before Christmas. Ensuring that the unique petrochemical facilities of Qenos are viable into the future will be essential for the creation of a fully circular economy for plastics in Australia”, said Mr Bell.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible together with communities and businesses across Australia.

Taking a ‘Paige’ out of the sustainability handbook

Our People - Resource Recovery

September 21, 2022

Highlights

“My grandfather (‘pappou’ in Greek) taught me from a young age the importance of reusing everything as much as you can and minimising your waste where possible.”

Tags: Our people

Highlights

“My grandfather (‘pappou’ in Greek) taught me from a young age the importance of reusing everything as much as you can and minimising your waste where possible.”

From a young age Paige Christodoulou knew that she wanted to play a part in making the world a more sustainable place.

“My grandfather (‘pappou’ in Greek) taught me from a young age the importance of reusing everything as much as you can and minimising your waste where possible,” says Paige of her early passion for recycling.

Paige’s journey with Cleanaway began during her student days at Deakin University where she was given an assignment to conduct a waste audit report for an international stationery company.

Through this audit the Bachelor of Environmental Science student identified large volumes of soft plastics that were being generated during the shipment of their products.

She also discovered that all of it was headed to landfill.

“The next step was to formulate a project plan to provide the company with a means to either reduce their soft plastics by altering how the products were packaged or to recycle the soft plastics.”

Paige’s waste audit report was mentioned during a chance encounter with her friend Carmel Bonadio from the Cleanaway Bids & Tenders team who insisted that it be sent to her.

“She was amazed with my report and could not believe how relevant it was to Cleanaway. Within a matter of weeks, she had passed it on to her manager Sophie O’Halloran who later became my Placement Coordinator.”

As a Cleanaway intern, Paige completed a white paper document that outlined current plastic streams and solutions in hospitals Australia wide. She worked with solutions experts from across Australia to collate the information she had gathered and identify the differences between the states which was a constant source of recycling confusion.

Pictured: The cover of Paige’s hospital plastics recycling report which was completed during her 10-week internship with Cleanaway.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the research component of my internship which consisted of interviewing hospital employees and plastic solutions experts, while also identifying new research studies regarding hospital plastic recycling.”

Paige adds, “Head of Marketing & Communications, Bids & Tenders Sophie O’Halloran and Sustainability Solutions Specialist Doug Claassen were a huge help in completing my report and were both a wealth of knowledge that I loved learning from!”

Upon her graduation in 2022, Paige rejoined the Cleanaway team as Resource Recovery Specialist and immediately hit the ground running.

“It is exhilarating to be able to reference my internship report in my current role at Cleanaway where I’m working on the Healthscope National Account to identify recyclers for hospital plastics.”

Pictured: Paige uses her report to help her identify potential plastics recyclers for hospitals in her current role as Resource Recovery Specialist.

When asked if she would recommend an internship with Cleanaway to students, Paige’s answer was a resounding “Yes!”

“I have actually already suggested Cleanaway to my university peers who were struggling to find placements in the sustainability field, just as I was.”

“I truly believe that my placement experience was the opportunity of a lifetime and I have learnt so much valuable information that I now use in my current role at Cleanaway.”

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Cleanaway expands Sydney footprint with GRL acquisition

Industry Updates - Resource Recovery

September 20, 2022

Highlights

“This acquisition represents an important step in the acceleration of our Blueprint 2030 strategy."

Tags: Prized assets

Highlights

“This acquisition represents an important step in the acceleration of our Blueprint 2030 strategy."

Cleanaway has acquired composting business Global Renewables Holdings Pty Ltd (GRL) in Sydney for $168.5 million. The acquisition is expected to complete within Q3 2022.

“This acquisition represents an important step in the acceleration of our Blueprint 2030 strategy,” said Cleanaway Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mark Schubert.

“The facility provides a strategic location and infrastructure to enhance our broader network and customer offering today and into the future as we position ourselves for the growing FOGO market opportunity.”

“The announcement of Cleanaway’s acquisition of the GRL facility at Eastern Creek is a huge moment for our Organics Blueprint,” said Matt McKenzie, General Manager, Solid Waste Services, NSW/ACT.

“GRL provides us with large scale and licensed composting infrastructure in a highly strategic location and will complement our planned transition to food and organics waste processing at Lucas Heights. Both sites are expected to deliver leading landfill diversion rates, high resource recovery, and improved carbon outcomes, and will position us well to lead as the Sydney market transitions to FOGO.”

“I’m looking forward to continuing the great work on NSW Organics and welcoming the 100 strong team from GRL into the Cleanaway family!”

Pictured: The GRL organics composting facility in Western Sydney.

GRL is a New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency (NSW EPA) licensed large-scale organics composting facility.

The facility’s strategic location will enable Cleanaway to play a pivotal role in the processing of 220,000 tonnes or approximately 20% of Sydney’s mixed household waste and Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) waste.

GRL will also help us deliver 30% landfill diversion and better carbon outcomes than red bin waste sent directly to landfill. The diversion of FOGO from landfill is a crucial component of a more sustainable resource recovery, as organic waste trapped in landfill releases methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

Cleanaway is the exclusive contracted provider of waste to the GRL facility until 2032, with waste supply underpinned by contracts with surrounding councils.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Recycling education in the digital age

Learning - Resource Recovery

August 22, 2022

Highlights

If you're a council, educator or simply someone who wants to get the recycling message out there, it's a good idea to start with shorts to appeal to the younger demographic and work your way up from there.

Tags: Recycling

Highlights

Crowded digital real estate and varying audience appetite have changed the way content is produced and consumed. For recycling education to be effective in 2022, snackable, short-form content is king among the younger audience whilst long-form content remains a preference for older audiences.

When we launched our second Recycling Behaviours Report this year, we aligned traditional media and social media with the release of the Report offering a range of data about Australia’s recycling awareness and behaviors.

Long-form content included deep dives aimed at educating consumers on key issues such as soft plastic contamination, tricky items and how to recycle them and working with the waste hierarchy to reduce, reuse and recycle

Short-form content was delivered through social media using engaging graphics and videos with snackable tips for maximum engagement.

To date, over 500,000 people were exposed to the Report on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok driving over 1 million video views. If you’re a council, educator or simply someone who wants to get the recycling message out there, it’s a good idea to start with ‘shorts’ to appeal to the younger demographic and work your way up from there. Here is a snapshot of our best short-form videos from our recent Recycling Behaviours Report campaign.

Almost all Australians believe that recycling is important (92%), with many being motivated to recycle to help the environment (79%) and reduce waste sent to landfill (76%). While most make an effort to check their local recycling rules (55%), our 2022 Recycling Behaviour Report exclusives uncover some startling observations and misconceptions.

A staggering 33% don’t know that kerbside recycling is sorted in Australia itself, with the recycling taken to a Material Recovery Facility to be sorted locally before it is sent to the recyclers.

Batteries and other e-waste do not belong in any of your kerbside bins, yet at least 27% of Australians admit to just putting items in the general waste bin while another 10% put things in the commingled recycling bin if they’re unsure. E-waste such as old laptops, phones and batteries can be recycled through a dedicated e-waste provider, and chances are, there’s one near your location.

The lockdown gave many Australians a chance to rethink their sustainability efforts. 77% of Australians are making conscious decisions every day to limit their fast fashion purchases, which are known for their adverse environmental impact. However, many still engage in “wishcycling” and place their old clothes in the kerbside recycling bin, hoping for someone to magically recycle them.

What do reusable and single-use coffee cups have in common? Watch our video to find the answer.

Cleanaway is committed to helping Australians adopt more sustainable behaviours and recycle efficiently. Our 2022 Recycling Behaviours Report highlights common misconceptions about recycling, and deep-dives into the recycling behaviours of everyday Aussies, to encourage change and action.

Read the full report and embark on a journey to make the world a greener place.

Cleanaway partners with Urban Utilities to convert food waste into clean energy

Partnerships - Resource Recovery

Highlights

“Food waste is often overlooked as a resource. Through our collaboration with Urban Utilities we have found a cleaner, greener way to repurpose organic food waste by turning it into renewable energy.”

“Our work with Urban Utilities furthers our EfW efforts while helping us promote sustainability across South East Queensland.”

Tags: partnerships

Highlights

“Our work with Urban Utilities furthers our EfW efforts while helping us promote sustainability across South East Queensland.”

Cleanaway and Urban Utilities entered into an Energy-from-Waste (Efw) partnership which sees the two companies converting organic food waste into clean energy well into 2027.

The partnership started as a trial in 2020 when Cleanaway assisted Urban Utilities in pre-treating its fat, oil and grease (FOG) waste so that it would be suitable to be fed into the utility company’s anaerobic digesters.

Anaerobic digestion is a process that can break down liquid food waste, creating biogas, which is then fed into an on-site cogeneration unit to create clean electricity. This is similar to the Energy-from-Waste (EfW) process that would take place at a landfill.

During the trial, Cleanaway’s Queensland LTS team collected FOG waste and liquid food waste from approximately 6,000 restaurants and supermarkets across South East Queensland and delivered it to Urban Utilities’ Luggage Point Resource Recovery Centre. The 12-month trial proved the feasibility of turning nutrient-rich FOG waste into renewable electricity to help power the Luggage Point facility.

At full scale, the partnership aims to treat 32 million litres of FOG and food waste each year.

Pictured: Cleanaway collects and pre-treats food waste to make it suitable for conversion into clean energy at Urban Utilities’ Luggage Point facility.

Steven Trajceski, Branch Manager at Cleanaway said, “Food waste is often overlooked as a resource. Through our collaboration with Urban Utilities we have found a cleaner, greener way to repurpose organic food waste by turning it into renewable energy.”

“Our work with Urban Utilities furthers our EfW efforts while helping us promote sustainability across South East Queensland.”

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Toby’s Estate advances its zero waste goals through Bin Trim Round 4

Our Services - Partnerships - Resource Recovery

July 26, 2022

Highlights

“It is always a fulfilling experience to work with a customer like Toby’s Estate who are especially passionate about improving their recycling.”

Tags: Resource Recovery

Highlights

“It is always a fulfilling experience to work with a customer like Toby’s Estate who are especially passionate about improving their recycling.”

Toby’s Estate was one of the businesses that came under the purview of Cleanaway’s Centre for Sustainability in NSW EPA’s Bin Trim Round 4 program which took place from May 2021 to February 2022. This project is a NSW Environment Protection Authority, Waste Less Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.

The coffee company’s goal was to identify areas for improvement in its push for zero waste. Through Bin Trim Round 4 assessments, our Centre for Sustainability (C4S) team was able to make recommendations on recycling some of the material that was going into the general waste streams at two Toby’s Estate sites in Sydney – Alexandria and Chippendale.

One of the recyclable materials that came into focus during the assessments was soft plastics. The C4S team assisted the business in setting up a collection system for this waste stream at the two Toby’s Estate sites.

Currently, both clear and coloured soft plastics are collected in bags to be taken away for recycling at our Greenacre facility.

The other waste stream the C4S team looked at was Toby’s Estate hessian coffee bags which were initially categorised as an organic waste stream. However, the business was facing difficulties in getting an organics recycler to accept this material.

The C4S team assisted Toby’s Estate by contacting textile recyclers and enquired on what kind of collection and recycling services they could provide. This search eventually led Toby’s Estate to partner with WornUp, a textile recycler that could recycle the coffee bean bags.

Pictured: Toby’s Estate hessian coffee bean bags sorted for recycling.

Chaff was another potentially recyclable material our C4S team looked into. Chaff is the husk of coffee beans and a problematic biproduct of the bean roasting process. While it is an organic material, it is also very light and usually ended up in the general waste bin.

With the C4S team’s recommendation, Toby’s Estate installed custom equipment to compact chaff and make it suitable for food organics recycling collection by Cleanaway.

Pictured: Toby’s Estate installed specialised machinery to assist with the compacting of coffee chaff for organics recycling.

Toby’s Estate has now increased its total landfill diversion from 24 tonnes per year to 42 tonnes per year.

The volume of waste recovered has also significantly increased at its two sites. The Alexandria site increased from 52% to 86% by volume while its Chippendale site diversion increased from 28% to 84% by volume.

Resource Recovery Specialist Helina Kila says, “It is always a fulfilling experience to work with a customer like Toby’s Estate who are especially passionate about improving their recycling.”

“Finding solutions for their problem waste was made possible with the assistance of the Cleanaway network and knowledge of our staff. We will continue to look for alternative ways to divert additional waste from landfill for the customer to progress their waste management.”

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Coles Sustainability and Packaging teams visit Laverton Material Recovery Facility (MRF)

Partnerships - Resource Recovery

June 22, 2022

Highlights

“A big thank you from the Coles team for the excellent visit. This was a great opportunity for us to see the MRF in action and understand how our packaging choices can lead to better recycling outcomes.”

“It was truly an incredible tour. Thanks to the team for having us and sharing their wisdom. Here’s to less waste in the future.”

Tags: Resource Recovery

Highlights

“It was truly an incredible tour. Thanks to the team for having us and sharing their wisdom. Here’s to less waste in the future.”

The Coles Sustainability and Packaging teams visited our Laverton Material Recovery Facility (MRF) as part of our regular discussions about how we can support Coles to achieve its zero waste goals.

The tour provided a first-hand look at how Coles’ own-brand products and packaging is recycled by consumers and processed through our facilities so that we can continue working together to increase that recycling. The team also enjoyed a tour of the Plastic Recovery Facility (PRF) to see how plastic packaging is sorted into five polymers.

Cleanaway and Coles have a strong partnership with an ongoing dialogue to support and educate about the end-of-life process of packaging. We continue to update the Coles teams on our latest resource recovery technologies as well as any opportunities for recycling and diverting waste generated from supermarket products.

Pictured: The Coles team getting a close up look at how recyclables are sorted and processed at the MRF and PRF.

“It was truly an incredible tour. Thanks to the team for having us and sharing their wisdom. Here’s to less waste in the future,” said Eliza Hobba, Sustainability Relationships Manager, Coles.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Cleanaway bolsters environmental and social impact with Soft Landing

Communities - Partnerships - Resource Recovery

June 15, 2022

Highlights

“Partnering with Cleanaway helps us in our mission to create stable and meaningful jobs for people who are experiencing barriers to employment. Every day we see first-hand the positive impact that having a job can have on a person’s life.”

Tags: partnerships

Highlights

The Australian Stewardship Council estimates that nearly two million mattresses are discarded by households each year. Most of the mattresses head straight to landfill, marking a premature end for tonnes of recyclable steel, foam and timber.

Soft Landing is working to turn this problem on its head by diverting mattresses from landfill while providing stable employment to refugees, asylum seekers and long-term unemployed.

Last year, the social enterprise recycled 538,000 mattresses. For every 35 mattresses collected and recycled, a job is created for someone in need.

It was this social mission that initially brought Cleanaway and Soft Landing together in 2018. The two companies have since shared a close working relationship to make mattress recycling accessible to Australians while offering opportunities to disadvantaged groups.

Pictured: Kolimullah (left) is a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar while Akhil (right) is originally from Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland. Both came through to Soft Landing via a refugee and resettlement process operated with federal funding by Settlement Services International.

In early 2022, Cleanaway took it up a notch by formally entering into a procurement agreement with Soft Landing, making them our biggest social enterprise contractor. The agreement opens up Soft Landing’s mattress collection service to residents in Victoria (Brimbank, Cardinia, Dandenong, Hobson Bay, Maribyrnong, Maroondah, Melton, Moonee Valley and Mornington) and Western Australia (Bayswater, Joondalup, Malaga, Mandurah and Perth Metro).

Residents in these regions can make bookings for kerbside mattress collections at standardised rates via their local councils. Residents can also make bulk drop-offs for Soft Landing at selected Cleanaway transfer stations in the two states, making it possible to recycle mattresses, furniture and white goods all at one place.

Pictured: Lee is a migrant from Malaysia who joined Soft Landing in 2019 to accommodate the social enterprise’s increasing manual recycling processes. Lee still works at the Smithfield, NSW site along with his colleagues Kolimullah and Akhil.

“We use local suppliers wherever possible and support the communities that we work in. We also see that in Cleanaway.”

“As part of our commitment to making a sustainable future possible together with the communities where we operate, Cleanaway is always looking to strengthen our partnerships with social enterprises such as Soft Landing, as well as with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned enterprises,” says Ezra Clough, Cleanaway’s Head of Procurement.

“Our tendering process prefers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suppliers, while our social procurement framework is set up to prioritise and increase our ethical sourcing engagement and spend. Between January 2021 and January 2022, our spend for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned businesses was $9.8 million and social enterprises was $3.8 million. We’re working to grow these figures over time.”

Learn more about how we’re bringing to life Cleanaway’s mission for our customers, shareholders, community and the planet in our 2022 Sustainability Report.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

NSW Container Deposit Scheme Agreement extension

Partnerships - Resource Recovery

May 20, 2022

Tags: Plastics

Highlights

Cleanaway today celebrates the announcement that the TOMRA Cleanaway joint venture will continue in the role of Network Operator under the New South Wales Container Deposit Scheme (CDS), ‘Return and Earn’. The Network Operator Agreement has been extended for four years, ending in late 2026.

Since the commencement of the scheme in December 2017, NSW communities and businesses have returned over seven billion containers and significantly improved resource recovery and recycling rates across the state.

Before NSW introduced the ‘Return and Earn’ scheme, more than 160 million drink containers littered our streets, beaches, waterways, and parks. Drink container litter made up 44 per cent of the volume of litter in the state and cost more than $162 million a year to manage.

Cleanaway is proud to play a key role in delivering this enormously successful scheme. Increased recycling rates and good source separation resulting from the network design have supported significant value chain extension investments.

Cleanaway, with its joint venture partners PACT, Asahi Beverages and Coca Cola Europacific Partners have developed a PET plastic pelletising facility that turns used PET containers into recycled PET pellets that can be used to make new packaging. The NSW CDS provides a significant portion of the feedstock for this circular economy solution.

Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director, Mark Schubert said, “Our refreshed Blueprint 2030 strategy centres around delivering sustainable customer solutions and making a sustainable future possible together. We are pleased to be able to continue to deliver an efficient CDS Network Operator service to the NSW community through our joint venture partnership with TOMRA. We look forward to driving even higher recovery rates and greater community access to the scheme in the future.”

Under the extension agreement, TOMRA Cleanaway continues to be responsible for the NSW Container Deposit Scheme network of return points, including Reverse Vending Machines, over-the-counter drop offs and automated depots. The joint venture will also be responsible for recycling collected containers and ensuring this material is sent to appropriate destinations, such as the Circular Plastics Australia facility in Albury. TOMRA Cleanaway has also committed to greater community access to ‘Return and Earn’ by increasing the number of collection points across NSW.

Media
Mark Biddulph
Head of Corporate Affairs
Tel: +61 499 332 601
Email: mark.biddulph@cleanaway.com.au

TOMRA Cleanaway returns as NSW CDS Network Operator for another 4 years

Industry Updates - Our Services - Resource Recovery

Highlights

Since the commencement of the scheme in December 2017, NSW communities and businesses have returned over seven billion containers.

Tags: CDS

Highlights

Since the commencement of the scheme in December 2017, NSW communities and businesses have returned over seven billion containers.

The New South Wales (NSW) government announced that the TOMRA Cleanaway joint venture will continue in the role of Network Operator for its Container Deposit Scheme (CDS), ‘Return and Earn’ for another four years, ending in late 2026. Minister for Environment James Griffin called the scheme “one of the most successful and trusted recycling initiatives Australia has seen.”

Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director, Mark Schubert welcomed the announcement, “Cleanaway is proud to play a key role in delivering this enormously successful scheme. Our refreshed Blueprint 2030 strategy centres around delivering sustainable customer solutions and making a sustainable future possible together. We are pleased to be able to continue to deliver an efficient CDS Network Operator service to the NSW community through our joint venture partnership with TOMRA. We look forward to driving even higher recovery rates and greater community access to the scheme in the future.”

Circular Plastics Australia is a joint venture with Cleanaway, PACT, Asahi Beverages and Coca Cola Europacific Partners. The PET plastic pelletising facility by the venture turns used PET containers into recycled PET pellets that can be used to make new packaging. The NSW CDS provides a significant portion of the feedstock for this circular economy solution.

TOMRA Cleanaway has also committed to greater community access to ‘Return and Earn’ by increasing the number of collection points across NSW.

TOMRA Cleanaway CEO James Dorney said he looks forward to continuing working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the scheme coordinator Exchange for Change.

“Working with our partners, we look forward to building upon the incredible successes of the scheme to date and the positive environmental, charity and community outcomes delivered as part of the circular economy in NSW,” Mr Dorney said.

Pictured: TOMRA Cleanaway board representatives and CEO James Dorney

Pictured: A Return and Earn Reverse Vending Machine (RVM)

The renewal and expansion of the contract isn’t just good news for the environment, it’s also good news for charities, with more than $30 million raised for charities and community groups via donations and fees since the scheme commenced.

St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO Jack de Groot said through the partnership they’ve developed a valuable new income stream to support their work.

“It started out with over-the-counter collections in Vinnies Shops across Western Sydney and the Illawarra,” Mr de Groot said.

You can read the Cleanaway media release here.

You can read the release from the Minister for Environment, James Griffin, here.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.