Construction of a new $40.5 million material recycling facility (MRF) on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland is close to completion.
The construction of the facility, which is set to be operational by the end of the year, has been funded through a tripartite funding agreement between all levels of government, with:
- $22 million from the Queensland government’s Recycling and Jobs Fund
- $13.5 million from Sunshine Coast Council
- $5 million from the Australian government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund
The MRF is promoted as the first new-build facility and largest new investment publicly owned recycling infrastructure in South East Queensland in a decade.
With “industry-leading” intelligent sorting technology, the facility is expected to be able to process 60,000 tonnes or more per year to recover glass bottles, plastic containers, cardboard, paper and steel and aluminium cans, supplying a range of quality products for re-use across several industries.
“The Palaszczuk government is committed to protecting Queensland’s unique natural environment and an important part of that is supporting new and enhanced resource recovery initiatives,” says Queensland Environment Minister Leanne Linard.
“To protect our environment, we have set ourselves an ambitious goal of diverting 80% of waste from landfill and recycling 65% of materials by 2030.
“One way we will achieve our goals is to support greater re-use, recycling and remanufacturing of recyclable materials and this new materials recycling facility will help us do that.”