$162 million boost for New South Wales recycling infrastructure

The new funding injection combines grants from both levels of government to leverage private industry investment, and will take the total investment in transforming the industry in NSW to $162 million.

Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley and NSW Minister for Energy and the Environment, Matt Kean visited the Suez Resource Recovery centre in Belrose as the new grants round opened today, highlighting opportunities emerging in the State’s waste sector and its importance to both the economy and the environment.

“The Morrison Government has established waste and recycling as a national priority, one that is driving economic investment while helping the environment,” Minister Ley said.

“The Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) is bringing together States, Territories, industry and local government to ensure we are remanufacturing our waste instead of throwing it away.

“We are working with NSW to create jobs and boost recycling capacity as we phase in our waste exports ban and move further towards a circular economy that sees ‘waste’ as an asset.”

Minister Kean said the grants, from the new Remanufacture NSW Fund, will prioritise new sorting technologies and materials recovery projects that increase our ability to process mixed plastics, glass, paper and tyres, and boost our capacity to process valuable single stream plastics like PET and HDPE.

“Our $19 million investment from prior recycling programs, unlocked $73 million in private industry investment in NSW and enabled the creation of hundreds of jobs – which just illustrates the opportunities for innovative waste projects here in NSW,” Mr Kean said.

“We know the people of NSW are keen recyclers, and this new program is all about supporting our waste industry to get more innovative large-scale projects that divert plastic, glass, paper and tyres from landfill, off the ground.”

Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans, said the Recycling Modernisation Fund will play a pivotal role in introducing the latest innovations in recycling technology across Australia.

“As we increasingly recognise our waste as a valuable resource that can benefit our economy, we must use the Fund to harness the latest science so we recycle more and then remanufacture those resources into valuable new products,” Assistant Minister Evans said.

“Recycling is becoming a boom industry for Australia by increasing both its wealth and jobs. Recycling creates nine jobs for every 10,000 tonnes of material recycled, compared to only three if that material ends up in landfill.

The $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund investment, and measures to support Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan, will create approximately 10,000 new jobs all around Australia over the next ten years. Additionally, 10 million tonnes of waste will no longer go to landfill.

Companies can apply for grants through the NSW Government from today at: https://environment.nsw.gov.au/funding-and-support/nsw-environmental-trust/grants-available/remanufacture-nsw

Applications will remain open until March 26. For further information see https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste/how-we-manage-waste/recycling-modernisation-fund and https://environment.nsw.gov.au/funding-and-support/nsw-environmental-trust/grants-available/remanufacture-nsw