Mundamia to benefit from new recycling infrastructure

Located in Mundamia, the MICROfactorieTM recycling project is the product of a partnership with the University of NSW Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT) Centre.

Through a combination of heat and compression, waste glass and textiles which are traditionally unable to be recycled will be turned into an innovative green ceramic product for use as kitchen benches, table tops, tiles, furnishings, flooring, art and other applications.

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The project will create one job and cost a total of $1 million with half coming from a federal and state co-investment and the other $500,000 coming from industry.

The state government portion comes from a $24 million NSW government funding arrangement which will be distributed among 22 recycling projects around the state, aimed at increasing NSW recycling capacity by 120,000 tonnes a year.

The federal portion derives from the $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) which is aimed at generating over $600 million in recycling infrastructure. The RMF is targeted at addressing the National Waste Policy Action Plan which has a goal of "significantly" increasing the use of recycled content by governments and industry.

Earlier this year, property developer Mirvac partnered with the SMaRT centre to use the green ceramic product in one of its apartments as proof of concept.

A spokesperson from Shoalhaven City Council (SCC) said the installation will be a demonstration plant that is capable of producing about 450 tonnes of product per year.

The product will be sold in order for the project to break even and to demonstrate the economic opportunity for any local business.

According to the SCC spokesperson, the business case shows the plant being financially viable within the second year of operation.

"The proposed Microfactorie will be promoted as an innovative demonstration plant on behalf of UNSW SMaRT Centre to show the Illawarra and Shoalhaven manufacturing industry what is possible from recycled materials and encourage the development of more microfactories along with larger scale operations," the spokesperson said.

"Council will therefore be diverting waste from landfill, using these waste streams to their maximum potential ... while creating employment and promoting, growing and achieving a true circular economy."

By mid-2024 when the full federal government waste export ban comes into effect, Australia must recycle around 645,000 additional tonnes of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres each year.