Australia-based plastics recycler Replas has commissioned a new plastics recycling facility in Queensland, Australia. The company says the facility will reprocess plastic scrap collected locally and produce products that can be used for infrastructure throughout Queensland.
Replas is a joint venture created in 1991 by Australian Recycling Technologies (ART), based in the Lonsdale suburb of South Australia, and Repeat Plastics of Lilydale, Australia.
Replas says the recycling plant is a culmination of its 22 years in the business and was funded by a grant from the Australian Packaging Covenant and The Queensland Government through the Department of Environment & Heritage Protection.
The company says the turnkey plant, built from scratch, can process both flexible and rigid mixed plastic scrap to create such products as garden posts, boardwalk material, outdoor fitness equipment and about 200 other products. Replas also says it is studying the feasibility of offering this technology to other recyclers.
Previously, all of Replas’ production has occurred on a 15-acre site in the rural township of Ballarat, Victoria, then was shipped around Australia and New Zealand. Plastic scrap is collected from various sources, the company says, including supermarket collection points facilitated by Australia’s RED Group.
The new automated plant is energy efficient, the company says, and uses the latest technology in servo drive motors, robotics and in-house control software. Replas says the software also allows the plant to be monitored and adjusted remotely.
Replas says the new recycling technology offers a 30 percent energy savings and the company plans to similarly upgrade its existing manufacturing machinery.
“This is a very exciting time for the company,” says Mark Yates, founder of Repeat Plastics. “Sales are going strong which allows our team in the R&D department to develop new ways of recycling plastic materials diverted from landfill and add new products to our continually expanding range.”