The Shoalhaven's new recycling project has been described as "groundbreaking" as it will transform mattresses, plastic and glass into products like tiles and kitchen benches.
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The $1 million Green Ceramics MICROfactorie will remanufacture 42 tonnes of plastics into filament for 3D printing and almost 1000 tonnes of glass and mattresses into other forms of furnishings.
Shoalhaven City Council Waste Coordinator, Peter Windley, said the products like tiles, kitchen benches and tabletops will be available to be purchased and used in homes.
"The tiles will come in all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes," said Mr Windley.
"They are tested by the CSIRO and are a very good viable product. They will be available to not only people of the Shoalhaven but everyone in Australia."
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Mr Windley said at the moment, the glass and recycled material comes from the Shoalhaven.
"We've got lots of interest from outside the Shoalhaven to bring in more material because we have the facility," he added.
"There's said to be 3 million or tons in landfills on the East Coast alone. So we've taken that as a challenge."
The MICROfactorie was praised as "groundbreaking" by Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley, who toured the West Nowra Waste and Recycling Depot with Senator for NSW Jim Molan on Monday.
The facility is supported through the Morrison Government's $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund.
"It's exciting to hear of the recycling revolution that's happening right here in the Shoalhaven," said Minister Ley.
"The team here, led by your council, is really kicking some goals when it comes to the agenda that the Commonwealth Government has around recycling.
"We are encouraging consumers not to think about throwing things away, but where you can actually recycle them.
"And you have a facility that makes that simple and straightforward that works well for consumers."
Council and UNSW's Sustainable Materials and Technology (SMaRT) Centre have partnered to deliver the project.
The UNSW SMaRT Centre is a leading national research centre that works to ensure new recycling science is translated into real-world environmental and economic benefits.
It is expected the facility will be complete halfway through 2022.
There are a number of projects focusing on resource recovery and recycling at the West Nowra Waste and Recycling Depot.
This includes the Bioelektra project which will recycle 90 per cent waste that goes into the red bin, leaving just 10 per cent for disposal. This facility is expected to be complete by late 2023.
"We've also building MRF which is a Materials Recovery Facility, which recovers all the waste products put into the yellow bin," said Mr Windley.
"We're building the MICROfactorie at the back here. And we are just finishing off the final final touches on a glass plant."
The glass processing plant has already produced glass sand into asphalt, or bitumen, that has been used on the Nowra Bridge Project and the Albion Park Bypass Project.
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