Amcor signs MOU to invest in Australian advanced recycling facility

Amcor, a global manufacturer of packaging solutions, has announced that its Amcor Australia & New Zealand (Amcor ANZ) business has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Australian-based Licella Holdings to invest in one of the country’s first advanced recycling facilities.

According to Licella Holdings, the company plans to construct the advanced recycling facility in Altona, Victoria, Australia. Licella says Australia’s Victorian Environmental Protection Agency has approved the development license for stage one of the Altona advanced recycling facility. The proposed facility is expected to process 20,000 metric tons per year of plastic scrap by using Licella’s Cat-HTR technology. Licella says its Cat-HTR platform is hydrothermal liquefaction technology, which uses supercritical water to convert plastic scrap into oil. HTL oil, also known as Plasticrude, can be used as a substitute for fossil oil in the plastic manufacturing process.

According to Amcor, Amcor ANZ and Licella had previously collaborated on Licella’s feasibility study, which validated a local supply chain for food-grade recycled soft plastic and demonstrated the economic and environmental benefits of the proposed facility.

Amcor says the MOU supports Amcor and Licella’s commitment to create a local circular economy for soft plastics in Australia and helps to advance Amcor’s target to achieve 30 percent recycled content in its packaging materials across its portfolio by 2030. Amcor says both parties will continue to discuss final terms and arrangements related to the MOU, which are subject to respective internal approvals.

Mike Cash, president of Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, says Amcor is proud to support the development of new technologies that create a circular economy for soft plastics in Australia. He says, “We are proud to be able to help deliver a local supply of food-grade recycled content that can enable more customers to participate in a circular economy.”