The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) welcomes today’s announcement by Coca-Cola Amatil that the beverage giant is considering the opportunities to establish a recycled plastic processing plant in Australia.

Together with peak WMRR member, Veolia Australia and New Zealand, Coca-Cola Amatil said a joint project team has been established to consider the potential plant’s economic feasibility, size, scale and location, end-to-end requirements and potential integration into each company’s value chains.

The project is timely given the announcement by Environment Ministers following the 8 November 2019 Meeting of Environment Ministers that the COAG waste export ban, which encompasses plastic, paper, glass, and tyres, will commence in a phased approach from 1 July 2020, with the mixed waste plastics ban being rolled out by July 2021.

“WMRR commends Veolia for its proactiveness in entering into a Heads of Agreement with Coca-Cola Amatil. Presently, significant volumes of PET beverage containers are being collected in jurisdictions with a container deposit scheme, with volumes expected to rise as WA and Tasmania roll out their schemes over the next few months. If this facility becomes a reality, it would certainly drive the remanufacturing of Australian recycled containers, leading to the creation of local jobs,” WMRR CEO, Ms Gayle Sloan, said.

“WMRR has previously noted that the COAG waste export ban comprises predominantly packaging and we look forward to other packagers jumping on the bandwagon and following in Coca-Cola’s lead by partnering with our essential waste and resource recovery sector to invest in closing the loop by creating Australian packaging that utilises their post-consumer recyclate.”