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Cleanaway lifts the standard with latest Modern Slavery Statement
Our FY21 statement sets out the further actions that we have taken to mitigate the risks of modern slavery in our supply chain and operations during FY21.
Cleanaway has released our FY21 Modern Slavery Statement, continuing our journey towards reporting and mitigating modern slavery risks in our supply chains and operations.
Cleanaway Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Mark Schubert said, “Cleanaway is committed to human rights reporting, transparency and accountability. It’s a core part of our mission to make a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses, particularly with COVID-19 impacting us all. We look forward to continue demonstrating growth and improvement in these areas in the years to come.”
Cleanaway makes protecting our stakeholders a priority, which includes our suppliers, the people engaged by them, and the communities and environment in which they operate. We work to identify, assess and mitigate potential risks throughout our supply chains, which extend internationally to countries with varying levels of modern slavery risks.
Head of Procurement Ezra Clough said, “We made great strides in FY21 with regards to our modern slavery risk management. First, we broadened the use of our Supplier Code of Conduct to more suppliers in our supply chain. This is fundamental to improving Cleanaway’s performance on the modern slavery score and in line with our sustainable sourcing practices, which create long-term value across our supply chain. Second, we made modern slavery training mandatory for all existing white-collar employees and part of the onboarding process for all newcomers to the organisation.”
“Cleanaway understands that we need to educate all entities within our corporate group about the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act, how to better identify modern slavery risks and the processes for reporting any concerns identified, including through Cleanaway’s Whistleblower Policy and our third party service FairCall.” said Ezra.
Following feedback on our FY20 statement, we focused our efforts in communicating our policies and data in a clearer manner, to eliminate any possibility of misinterpretation. We also reached out to our ASX 100 peers whose policies inspired us to implement additional processes into our framework.
In FY21, Cleanaway spent more than $1 billion with more than 6,500 suppliers. Based on The Global Slavery Index, 99.86% of our suppliers operated in countries with low risk of modern slavery. 99.28% of our suppliers operated on-site in Australia, making up the vast majority of our supplier base.
Cleanaway’s FY21 Modern Slavery Statement outlines seven planned actions in FY22:
audit
due diligence
education
governance and oversight
policies and standards
remediation and responses
training.
These seven areas were identified during the review process of our modern slavery risk management framework in FY21 and will be continuously evaluated against our procedures and industry best practices.
“Making meaningful strides toward eradicating modern slavery requires collaboration with governments and regulators, non‑government organisations, industry bodies as well as our peers and networks across Australia,” Mark explained.
“We acknowledge that there is always work to be done and investments to be made in this area, no matter what organisation or environment you operate in, and Cleanaway takes its obligations to do so very seriously.”
Download Cleanaway’s FY21 Modern Slavery Statement here.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
On 18 December 2021 Cleanaway acquired from Suez seven post-collections assets in the Sydney basin, including 95 skilled team members who had been operating the assets. The collection of facilities will be known as Sydney Resource Network (SRN) and complements Cleanaway’s existing footprint of waste processing facilities in NSW.
The $501 million acquisition comprises two landfill operations (Lucas Heights, Kemps Creek) and five transfer stations (Auburn, Artarmon, Belrose, Rockdale, Ryde) and delivers an immediate solution for Cleanaway to internalise waste processing in the Sydney region.
Cleanaway’s integration team carried out detailed planning over several months to ensure a smooth transition for employees, customers and suppliers involved across the seven facilities.
Head of Operations – Integration, Stuart Baird, who is leading the SRN team said “I’m excited to be welcoming these facilities and the expert operators behind them into the Cleanaway fold. These seven sites fill a gap in our capabilities, and now we can recover more resources from our waste streams and methane from our landfills to make a sustainable future possible.”
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mark Schubert, said “Cleanaway is an organisation that works hard to do the right thing by our people and our customers. What we do is essential to the safe functioning of society and protection of the environment, and that makes our work incredibly meaningful.”
“We exist to ensure that we can reduce and reuse our natural resources for a very long time. With these seven new assets in the Cleanaway network there is no limit to what we can achieve together in NSW.”
Cleanaway harnesses energy from the sun to lower electricity costs and support carbon emissions reduction
Cleanaway is investing almost $5 million in solar energy systems across Australia to reduce its electricity demand from the grid and its annual power bill.
Industry Updates
October 18, 2021
Highlights
"The installation of solar energy systems is a positive step toward supporting the deployment of zero emissions generation and reducing Cleanaway’s reliance on the grid."
"The installation of solar energy systems is a positive step toward supporting the deployment of zero emissions generation and reducing Cleanaway’s reliance on the grid."
Australia’s leading integrated waste management company, Cleanaway, is investing almost $5 million in solar energy systems across Australia to reduce its electricity demand from the grid and its annual power bill.
Chief Operating Officer Brendan Gill said Cleanaway was installing 2.4 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) panels, which would be capable of generating about 3.6 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year – enough to power 547 Australian homes.
He said Cleanaway would have solar generation across 23 sites spanning all states when the three-phase program was completed this calendar year.
This includes a 600 kilowatt (KW) array of panels at the new Perth Material Recovery Facility (MRF), which reopened in May, along with oil refineries, liquids waste facilities, and other MRFs.
“It makes economic sense to reduce our exposure to volatile electricity prices by generating our own power,” Mr Gill said.
He said Cleanaway expected the installation of solar panels to reduce Cleanaway’s annual electricity bill from these facilities by about 17 percent, or more than $500,000 a year, and annual electricity usage from the grid from these facilities by about 20 percent.
“In choosing which of our 250-plus sites were to be powered by the sun, we prioritised those that were likely to provide the fastest payback of our investment, but also considered factors such as roof size, angle, pitch and age, and operational hours,” Mr Gill said.
“About 1.6 MW of panels are already in place and the remaining 0.8 MW will be being installed by the end of this year.
“Solar PV is a proven technology with little risk, and we look forward to realising the benefits of this investment immediately and over many years.”
In 2020 Cleanaway published its first Sustainability Report, naming seven priority Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the company felt it could have the greatest impact on through its operations.
This program contributes to four of the SDGs:
7. Affordable and Clean Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
“Given the scale of our operations we’re aware that we can make an impact with improvements like this. The program is another example of how we’re working towards our mission to make a sustainable future possible for generations to come,” Mr Gill said.
The project draws on a $90 million Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) corporate loan designed to accelerate sustainable practices in the waste management sector.
CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “The waste management sector generates significant emissions through landfill and energy use. CEFC finance is driving real innovation in the sector by giving Cleanaway the flexibility to look beyond the waste and landfill component of its emissions, and introduce more clean, renewable energy.
“The installation of solar energy systems is a positive step toward supporting the deployment of zero emissions generation and reducing Cleanaway’s reliance on the grid.
“Cleanaway is leading the industry in implementing new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we congratulate them on this announcement.”
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
Cleanaway boosts plastic recycling with $1 million investment at Laverton
Cleanaway has continued the upgrade of Laverton Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to increase recycling of plastic.
Industry Updates - Resource Recovery
October 5, 2021
Highlights
As the first operator of a MRF to secure a licence to export single polymer plastics, Cleanaway will sell the green PET to processors offshore and in Australia.
As the first operator of a MRF to secure a licence to export single polymer plastics, Cleanaway will sell the green PET to processors offshore and in Australia.
Cleanaway has continued the upgrade of its Laverton Material Recovery Facility (MRF) centre in Melbourne with an investment of more than $1 million in new equipment to increase recycling of plastic.
Chief Operating Officer Brendan Gill says the investment, supported by up to $500,000 of funding from Sustainability Victoria, includes the purchase of new conveyors and optical sorting equipment and the optimisation of existing equipment at the plastic recycling facility at Laverton.
Brendan says said the new equipment will allow the separation of plastics such as coloured PET bottles and plastic trays commonly used for meat and fruit, from mixed residual plastic, reducing the volumes of plastic being sent to landfill and increasing the recovery of valuable commodities.
“At Cleanaway we see all waste as a resource, so this investment supports our objective of creating a circular economy in which waste is reduced and materials are reused and recycled, rather than sent to landfill,” he says.
“Recovering, finding markets for, and selling, single polymers like coloured PET plastic not only creates value but is consistent with our mission of making a sustainable future possible.”
Sensors on the sorting equipment detect and remove the coloured PET from the mixed plastics as they move along a conveyer at Laverton.
They were sold overseas with other plastics, like high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), before bans on exports of mixed plastics were introduced on 1 July.
As the first operator of a MRF to secure a licence to export single polymer plastics, Cleanaway will sell the green PET to processors offshore and in Australia.
Clear PET from Laverton will be sent to the $45 million PET pelletising facility being built at Albury, NSW, to produce plastic resin for use in manufacturing new plastic containers.
The facility, owned by a joint venture of Cleanaway, Pact Group Asahi Beverages called Circular Plastics Australia (PET), will be fully operational later this year.
Cleanaway and Pact announced in July that Laverton would be the site of a $38 million plant to convert recycled HDPE and PP, such as milk bottles and food tubs, into resin for use in manufacturing food, dairy and other packaging This facility, which complements the Albury PET pelletising plant, will be fully operational in December 2022.
Cleanaway, Pact, Asahi and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture which will build and operate a new PET recycling facility and include the Circular Plastics Australia (PET) joint venture in Albury.
A decision on the location of the new PET facility will be made in coming months, with construction to be completed by 2023.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
Climate and circular economy underpin Cleanaway sustainability commitments
Cleanaway continues to take action in FY21 to achieve the seven United Nations SDGs we have prioritised
Industry Updates
September 28, 2021
Highlights
We are continually looking at ways to expand our innovative resource recovery and recycling, which reduces our greenhouse gas emissions by diverting waste from landfill and reduces demand for primary raw materials.
We are continually looking at ways to expand our innovative resource recovery and recycling, which reduces our greenhouse gas emissions by diverting waste from landfill and reduces demand for primary raw materials.
Cleanaway has released its FY21 Sustainability Report, expanding on the material topics and global standards for sustainability that the company is working towards, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The company continued to take action in FY21 to achieve the seven United Nations SDGs it has prioritised:
SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
At present, resource recovery is not an option for all waste streams. Greenhouse gas emissions are a natural consequence of waste ending up in landfill. Energy from waste represents an important alternative to engineered landfill for managing waste that cannot be sustainably recovered. In addition to the safe management of residual waste, it also enables the generation of low carbon energy.
Energy from waste
A large proportion of waste continues to go to landfill either because it is too contaminated to be recovered for recycling or there is no current option for resource recovery. Landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, as waste decomposes.
Cleanaway is investing in world-leading technology to recover energy from waste (EfW) while transitioning to a lower carbon economy. In FY21, we captured about 108 million cubic metres of landfill gas and used some of it to generate about 130 gigawatts of renewable energy, which is enough to power about 27,000 homes.
Solar energy
We are investing in solar energy systems across Australia to reduce our demand from the electricity grid and to reduce our annual power bill, with photovoltaic panels being installed at 24 sites in a program to be completed this calendar year.
SDG 9: Industry innovation and infrastructure
Our network of prized assets provides critical infrastructure to support a circular economy and contribute to making a sustainable future possible, with the capacity to service the needs of the community. They include our resource recovery and recycling facilities, transfer stations, engineered landfills, liquid treatment plants and refineries.
Resource recovery investment
We continuously explore leading technology and processes to enable the circular economy and deliver innovative customer solutions, such as a packaged food waste recycling service introduced through our partnership with Coles supermarkets, which reduces food waste sent to landfill.
We are the upgrading our Victoria Commingled Resource Recovery (VCRR) network, including the Laverton North material recovery facility and plastic recovery facility in Melbourne.
We have spent more than $15 million upgrading resource recovery sites in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, and acquired the Grasshopper Environmental construction and demolition (C&D) collections business in NSW.
SDG 15: Life on land
We adhere to all environmental legislation and licensing requirements to minimise adverse effects on the environments in which we operate. We conduct our activities with the intention of preventing contaminants escaping and causing harm to the environment.
Environmental risks
In FY21, we made significant progress in simplifying and standardising management of environmental risks at our sites. An important milestone was the launch of the four Environment Absolutes alongside our revised Lifesaving Rules, which elevates environment protection and compliance to the importance of safety.
To complement the launch, Cleanaway undertook tailored environmental awareness training. We have also introduced a series of critical risk work programs that will ensure embedded management of our most material environmental risks.
Perth MRF infrastructure improvements
The Perth Material Recovery Facility, which was destroyed by fire in November 2019, was rebuilt and reopened in May 2021.
We worked with government bodies and an externally appointed independent fire engineer to ensure the redevelopment met the highest standards for safety, sustainability and fire and operations management and incorporated a range of fire safety enhancements.
SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption
Cleanaway has a critical role to play in the sustainable management and use of natural resources, the responsible management of chemicals and waste, and supporting reduction in waste generation. We believe that waste is a resource, and we focus on extracting the maximum potential from every tonne.
We are continually looking at ways to expand our innovative resource recovery and recycling, which reduces our greenhouse gas emissions by diverting waste from landfill and reduces demand for primary raw materials. In FY21 we recovered about 474,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard, 29,000 tonnes of plastic, 35,000 tonnes of steel and aluminium, and 113 million litres of used oil.
While we work towards more integrated services, we also actively partner with other organisations to improve recovery and reuse by investing with them in new plants.
Albury PET pelletising plant
Circular Plastics Australia (CPA), a joint venture of Cleanaway, Pact Group and Asahi Beverages is building a $45 million facility in Albury, NSW, that will convert almost one billion 600 ml PET plastic bottles each year into resin for manufacturing 20,000 tonnes of new PET containers when it is fully operational later this year.
Laverton recycling plant
Cleanaway and Pact have announced they will build a $38 million plant at Laverton in Melbourne to convert recycled high-density HDPE and PP into resin for manufacturing food, dairy and other packaging. This facility will be fully operational in December 2022.
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
By helping cities to manage their waste effectively, our services help to reduce the environmental impact of cities and enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanisation. Our education programs engage communities in their waste and recycling services to further develop a sustainability mindset in households, schools and businesses.
Education
We contribute to a cleaner and safer environment and enable better regulatory outcomes through education and engagement with customers and communities about recycling and better waste management.
Recognising the need for further education, Cleanaway launched a free version of its e-learning platform Greenius, in FY21 to help Australians get recycling right. The platform is suitable for almost anyone wanting to learn how to improve their recycling performance, and takes users on a recycling journey through gamification, videos, animations and quizzes.
SDG 13: Climate action
We are working to reduce our carbon footprint by cutting our greenhouse gas emissions.
Vehicle emissions
A high priority is reducing the emissions of our 3,300-plus diesel heavy vehicles, our second largest source of direct emissions. Hydrogen has the most long-term potential, but it will take between five and 10 years to become a reality.
In the meantime, we are investigating the feasibility of gas-powered vehicles, with timing dependent on refueling infrastructure. We will also assess the viability of replacing more than 600 light vehicles with electric vehicles once suitable models are released.
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
Cleanaway provides secure and meaningful employment for more than 6,300 people across about 250 sites around Australia. Recognising that collecting and processing waste poses safety hazards that we need to manage, we develop our people’s skills and strive to provide a safe working environment.
Safety
The safety, health and wellbeing of our people and the communities where we operate is our first and foremost consideration, never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic. We reduced our total recordable injury frequency rate in FY21 from 4.5 to 3.6. Our focus on injury severity will continue in FY22 with the introduction of a Severity Index metric.
We continue to focus on driving as a critical risk. In May 2021, we worked to retrofit Mobileye, an advanced driver assistance system, into most of our heavy vehicles to minimise the risk of distractions and improve road safety for all users.
Diversity and training
Achieving gender equality targets is important to us and we continue to develop initiatives to address gaps, including the introduction of female employee representation targets in our FY22 short term incentive plans.
We are developing our next Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) as we strive to achieve our vision of the full inclusion and participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our operations and partnerships.
In FY21, we introduced new modules to our training platform, Cleanaway University, and we update our induction video for our operational workforce as required. Our two-year graduate program creates career pathways for graduates through hands-on experience and insight into Cleanaway and the waste management industry.
Engagement survey
Our annual employee engagement survey gives our people the opportunity to share their opinions about working at Cleanaway and helps us measure their connection with the company. The 2021 survey, which had an 85 percent responses rate, showed 66 percent of our people were ‘actively engaged’ with Cleanaway.
Employee benefits
We want our employees to feel as invested in Cleanaway as we do in them. In October 2020, we launched our first Employee Share Scheme (ESS), a tax-deferred salary sacrifice arrangement to purchase shares in Cleanaway. In FY21, we partnered with employee benefits provider, Maxxia, and introduced salary packaging to allow employees to use their pre-tax income to pay for cars and work-related expenses.
Financial results
Cleanaway’s sustainable financial performance delivers returns to all stakeholders over the long term, ensuring organisational sustainability, and contributing to a strong Australian economy. In FY21, the company announced increases in underlying net revenue, underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and underlying net profit after tax, and delivered an increase in dividend.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
Cleanaway notes changes to the NSW Energy-from-Waste policy released today by the NSW Government. The new “Energy-from-Waste Infrastructure Plan” limits the development of Energy-from-Waste facilities to four Priority Infrastructure Areas, all of which are located outside the Sydney Basin, unless they meet certain criteria where the waste feedstock is a substitute to other fuels.
Since 2018 Cleanaway has been developing a proposal to construct a 500 ktpa Energy-from-Waste facility in Western Sydney, which is currently being assessed by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. The project has been developed to meet Western Sydney’s growing needs for a localised sustainable waste disposal solution, while creating substantial construction and operating employment opportunities, and delivering valuable economic benefits for the area.
Cleanaway is considering the new Infrastructure Plan to find a way forward for its project that is consistent with the plan.
Cleanaway believes that Energy-from-Waste plays a key role in the waste value chain and transitioning to a circular economy. It provides a long-term solution for waste that cannot be diverted from landfill and delivers a superior environmental solution to landfill. Our Western Sydney project is being developed to exceed the most stringent global emissions standards for Energy-from-Waste.
Cleanaway has gained significant experience in developing the Western Sydney project proposal. It will leverage this into any proposed and new Energy-from-Waste development projects servicing Sydney or other jurisdictions across the country.
Cleanaway wins waste disposal contract with 21 Melbourne councils
Cleanaway has confirmed its position as the largest waste treatment and disposal company in Melbourne after winning a four-year contract with 21 of the 26 metropolitan councils that tendered their volumes.
Cleanaway has confirmed its position as the largest waste treatment and disposal company in Melbourne after winning a four-year contract with 21 of the 26 metropolitan councils that tendered their volumes.
Regional Manager Melinda Lizza said the successful bid for the Metropolitan Waste Resource Recovery Group (MWRRG) waste disposal contract doubled the volumes of waste that Cleanaway accepted at its three Melbourne disposal or transfer facilities, to more than 605,000 tonnes per year.
She said Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) from kerbside bins would be tipped at the Melbourne Regional Landfill (MRL) at Ravenhall, the South East Melbourne Transfer Station (SEMTS) at Dandenong and the Lysterfield Resource Recovery Centre under the contract, which started on 1 April.
Cleanaway already had a contract with 11 metropolitan councils to accept waste for disposal and will accept a further 10 councils’ waste (see details below).
“We’re very proud to have won this contract, which demonstrates the value of our network of prized infrastructure assets and locations including landfills, resource recovery centres and transfer stations; MRL, SEMTS and Lysterfield,” Ms Lizza said.
“The MWRRG contract doubles the waste volumes going to these three sites and means we will be accepting about two thirds of the Melbourne metro MSW kerbside waste produced in Melbourne.
“It has started well with positive feedback from the councils about the convenience of our locations, the operational efficiency and longer opening hours of the facilities, the turnaround times.
“We haven’t had any issues handling the doubling of volume and, in fact, we could handle more.”
Ms Lizza said Cleanaway was spending $7.6 million at the facilities to support the contract, with investments including dozers, trailers, wheel loaders, concrete pads, a new weigh bridge, among other upgrades.
Most of the additional waste volumes are taken to SEMTS or Lysterfield, where it is consolidated by Cleanaway before being transported to MRL.
“The new contract substantially increases volumes of waste accepted at Lysterfield, a drop-off and disposal site which previously only had relatively small amounts coming in,” Ms Lizza said.
The 11 councils that Cleanaway already services are Bayside, Melton, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Whitehorse TS, Maribyrnong, Cardinia, Stonnington, Brimbank, Yarra City and Hobsons Bay.
The 11 councils that Cleanaway already services are Bayside, Melton, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Whitehorse TS, Maribyrnong, Cardinia, Stonnington, Brimbank, Yarra City and Hobsons Bay.
"The plan has me getting around all the states and as many locations and teams as practical over the first few months."
Introducing a new employee to an organisation is a daily event across the world but how do you ‘onboard’ the boss during a lockdown?
It is possible but, as new Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Mark Schubert is discovering, it requires a flexible and creative approach.
Even before he started in in his new role on 30 August, Mark was getting to know the Cleanaway business virtually.
This is no easy feat given Australia’s leading waste management company has more than 250 sites across the waste value chain from collections through resource recovery to treatment and disposal, in every state plus the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory.
Although he will not see all locations in the short term, this site tour is all about helping Mark see and hear how our 6,500-plus people are working with our prized assets and infrastructure and fleet to help create a circular economy as part of our mission to make a sustainable future possible.
“My plan is to spend a lot of time listening, learning and seeing how Cleanaway works,” he says.
He has been dropping into Cleanaway sites around the country from his home office in Sydney, where he is bunkered down because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Mark has crisscrossed the nation so far with an itinerary that has included our:
Liquid and Technical Service (LTS) operations in every state
Industrial & Waste Services (IWS) team servicing our customer QAL in QLD, our IWS Kwinana site in WA, and the team aqua cutting on the Westgate Tunnel Project, in Victoria
Perth Material Recovery Facility (MRF)
Inkerman Landfill and Wingfield Resource Recovery Centre (RRC), in SA
Victorian Commingled Resource Recovery (VCRR) network, Melbourne Regional Landfill (MRL), Brooklyn RRC, and the Dandenong South East Organics Facility (SEOF)
Cleanaway Daniels at Silverwater
Erskine Park Transfer Station and Landfill, Hillsdale depot, and Eastern Creek Container Deposit Scheme, in Sydney
Hemmant Recycling and RRC, New Chum Landfill in Ipswich, Logan depot, in QLD
Hydrocarbons sites in Perth, SA and Melbourne and our three Hydrocarbons refineries.
And that is just to name a few!! 😊
Managers at each location have been taking him on virtual tours, holding their phones up to provide sound and vision while providing commentary and answering questions, as ‘spotters’ ensure the tours are conducted safely.
Mark regrets he has been unable to be there physically and, when covid restrictions lift, is looking forward to getting out and spending time with our teams.
“The plan has me getting around all the states and as many locations and teams as practical over the first few months. As restrictions ease, I will switch back to face to face,” he says.
“Cleanaway has an exciting future and I’m excited to be joining the Cleanaway team.”
Contact us to learn more about an amazing career at Cleanaway
Society’s resources are finite, which is why at the heart of Cleanaway’s strategy is finding every opportunity to recover resources from the ‘waste’ we collect. This includes kerbside recycling, and the output from commerce and industry such as construction and demolition waste, organics, waste oil and more.
Cleanaway Chief Operating Officer Brendan Gill explains our resource recovery strategy and Clean Up Australia Chairman Pip Kiernan talks about how our partnership further supports the concept of a circular economy that is gaining traction with support from policy-makers and investments from industry.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
Cross-industry joint venture to build new plastic recycling facility
Cleanaway, Pact Group, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture that will build and operate a new PET recycling facility.
Industry Updates - Partnerships - Resource Recovery
August 16, 2021
Highlights
“This PET plastic pelletising facility is a huge win for the environment by creating a high value, recycled raw material from plastics we collect and sort through our network. At Cleanaway our mission is to make a #sustainablefuture possible and we see waste as a resource to achieve that.”
“This PET plastic pelletising facility is a huge win for the environment by creating a high value, recycled raw material from plastics we collect and sort through our network. At Cleanaway our mission is to make a #sustainablefuture possible and we see waste as a resource to achieve that.”
Pact Group, Cleanaway, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture that will build and operate a new PET recycling facility. Under the MOU, the parties intend to come together to provide an industry model for recycling solutions in Australia. This will include the new facility as well as the PET recycling facility currently being built by Pact Group, Cleanaway and Asahi Beverages through Circular Plastics Australia (PET) in Albury-Wodonga, which is expected to be completed later this year.
The proposed facility will provide a massive boost to Australian recycling by processing raw plastic material collected via Container Deposit Schemes and kerbside recycling. It is expected to process the equivalent of around 1 billion bottles each year to produce over 20,000 tonnes of new recycled PET bottles and food packaging. The facility will use state-of-the-art sorting, washing, decontamination and extrusion technology.
The cross-industry solution combines the complementary expertise of each participant to enhance their individual sustainability goals. Cleanaway will provide available PET through its collection and sorting network, Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise and CCEP, Asahi Beverages and Pact will buy the recycled PET from the facility to use in their respective products. The plant, when fully operational, will be run by Pact.
A decision on the plant’s location is anticipated in the coming months and construction is expected to be complete by 2023.
CCEP and Asahi Beverages, while competitors in the beverage market, have, for the purpose of this joint venture, joined with Pact and Cleanaway to increase the production and availability of recycled PET resin in Australia. The parties are proud to work with one another to advance the cause of sustainability and recycling. This proposed plant is an important step forward in creating a local plastics circular economy in Australia. This new self-sustaining industry is expected to create dozens of new jobs during the construction phase and operation of the plant.
In describing the deal, Peter West, CCEP Vice President and General Manager Australia, Pacific and Indonesia said, “This new joint venture will deliver a collaborative cross-industry solution to recycle the material that we use to produce our products. Together we can work towards creating a circular economy for PET within the beverages industry, ensuring that we are using more locally processed recycled content for the production of our bottles in Australia.”
Asahi Beverages Group CEO Robert Iervasi said, “This will be a ground-breaking project that will massively boost PET recycling capacity. It will help transform recycling in Australia by providing a new, local source of high-quality recycled PET. The building of this large rPET plant along with the facility in Albury-Wodonga is a major step towards helping us deliver a truly circular economy for our consumers.”
Cleanaway Chief Operating Officer Brendan Gill said, “This project supports Cleanaway’s Footprint 2025 by ensuring we have the right infrastructure in place to create a domestic circular economy. This PET plastic pelletising facility is a huge win for the environment by creating a high value, recycled raw material from plastics we collect and sort through our network. At Cleanaway our mission is to make a sustainable future possible and we see waste as a resource to achieve that.”
Group CEO and Managing Director from Pact Group, Sanjay Dayal said, “We are delighted to be able to bring a scaled cross-industry solution that solves for the local production of recycled resin. We are proud to have CCEP, Asahi Beverages and Cleanaway as partners creating a local circular economy. This partnership shows the value of a solution that works for industry and consumers. This is completely aligned to Pact’s strategy which is to lead the local circular economy through reuse, recycling, and packaging solutions”.
The arrangements set out in this announcement remain subject to the finalisation of legally binding documents between the parties.
