Repurpose It, one of Australia’s leading waste recycling businesses has launched Australia’s first $8.5 million state-of-the-art, construction and demolition washing plant facility in partnership with the Victorian State Government.
Located in Epping, the 150-acre resource recovery site features the country’s most sophisticated technology designed to treat residual waste, and process it into materials suitable for the booming civil construction industry; with a focus of reducing the reliance on excavated materials, by products include aggregates, sand and soil.
With over 500,000 tonnes of material expected to be re-produced per annum, Repurpose It’s new washing plant facility will focus on reducing its CO2 emissions, saving more than 84,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of planting 300,000 trees and 295 million kilometres of car travel. This is achieved through its unique process of washing and recycling the ordinarily difficult to recover materials through advanced screening, scrubbing and water treatment.
Repurpose It’s Founder and CEO, George Hatzimanolis explained that following the sharp growth in demand for extractive resources in Victoria’s infrastructure sector and the growing number of materials buried under landfill, change in the industry is vital.
“Our new construction and demolition washing plant will revolutionise the way we manage waste through our investment in cutting edge technology, allowing us to supply in-demand materials back to the industry while preserving the environment”, Mr. Hatzimanolis said.
“Since starting over a year ago, we’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on a range of projects and be recognised by key environmental thought leaders including the Victorian State Government for our commitment to the environment.”
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change for the Victorian Government, Lily D’Ambrosio, further added the State Government’s commitment in supporting sustainable businesses committed in driving a change, after it granted Repurpose It a $500,000 grant through the Victorian Government’s Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund.
“We’re supporting large-scale infrastructure projects like this one to reduce Victoria’s dependence on landfills, create new jobs and drive investment.”
“Our Recycling Industry Strategic Plan is helping Victoria’s recycling sector adjust to changes in world recycling markets so that more material is diverted from landfill.”
Downer, a leading provider of integrated services in Australia and New Zealand, who are 50% shareholder of Repurpose It, highlighted the importance of partnerships to deliver sustainable practices and solutions in Australia.
“The new recycling facility demonstrates that with strong partnerships we can deliver change,” said Dante Cremasco, Executive General Manager, Road Services at Downer.
“It’s incumbent on all of us to work together to drive the circular economy, creating new avenues to recycle and repurpose waste materials into new streams of use. It is all about pulling products that we can use, not pushing waste.”
Since March 2018, Repurpose It has worked hard reducing the amount of waste that buried in landfill by turning these materials into high value resources such as aggregates, sand, recycled water, soil and landscaping materials. As a result, Repurpose It was recognised as one of Westpac’s top 20 Businesses of Tomorrow for 2018.