West Melbourne welcomes paper sorting facility

A $2.5 million paper sorting facility has opened in Truganina, West Melbourne, to process 39,000 tonnes of recycled paper a year. The Australian Paper Recovery facility received an injection of $475,000 from the Labor state government as part of its $2.6 million investment in Recycling Industry Transition Support Grants, which aim to help transition Victoria’s resource recovery and reprocessing industry after the collapse of the export market to China.

The Truganina recycling facility will provide separation of kerbside and commercial mixed paper and cardboard — the graded paper will then be reprocessed locally and recycled into products such as newspaper and packaging. Additional materials from regional and metropolitan kerbside recycling, including plastics and metals, will also be accepted for processing.

Launching the new recycling facility, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio said, “Facilities like these are a crucial part of reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill — it’s fantastic to see Australian Paper expand their operations to accept more materials.

“A circular economy will not only improve Victoria’s waste and recycling systems — it will support local businesses and create local jobs here in Victoria,” she said.

The Victorian State Budget 2019/20 is investing $35 million to strengthen and diversify the state’s waste and recycling industry. Its Circular Economy Policy issues paper is currently open for consultation until 2 August 2019. Visit engage.vic.gov.au/circulareconomy.

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