Demand for Recycled Materials Australia
𝗥𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀
A $40 million recycling facility went into administration without processing a single kilogram of soft plastic. It’s been in the news all this week and another tragedy for our industry both in Australia and abroad.
In the last few days, many industry leaders are naming the real problem. Without an economic regime that rewards Australian recovery and builds demand for recycled materials, is likely that more recyclers will fail. There are many businesses leading by example, helping with the demand for recycled products, but the majority aren’t choosing recycled products first.
𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙨.
Collection and processing infrastructure only matters if there's a real, paying market for what comes out the other end. For over four years in New Zealand and more than three years in Australia, we've been turning soft plastics, food & beverage cartons and other hard to recycle waste into carbon negative building products.
However, it only works if they get specified, ordered and installed on real projects… getting paid to take waste to recycle doesn’t pay the bills, we all need to sell our end product to be financially sustainable.
That's the missing half of the circular economy story. Not more capacity. Real demand.
