Narrabri business grows as a major recycling hub

Narrabri is ahead of the curve as recycling and beneficial re-use of waste gathers momentum.

The Australian and state governments are actively moving to encourage the industry and develop new mechanisms for promoting recycling.

The Australian Government has now announced it will commit $190 million to a new Recycling Modernisation Fund that will generate $600 million of recycling investment and is aimed at driving a billion-dollar transformation of Australia’s waste and recycling capacity.

China and other countries now refuse to accept the volume of recyclable materials they once took from Australia.

That processing will in future be undertaken in this country.

Challenge Narrabri is already well established as a recycling facility drawing waste materials from Narrabri and neighbouring Moree and Gwydir shires.

And Narrabri-based Australian Recycled Plastics, a local business launched in 2013 by Dale and Helen Smith, has developed into a significant processor of waste plastic materials with major growth underway as volumes increase.

Australian Recycled Plastics has linked to one of Australia’s biggest plastics recycling and plastic manufacturing businesses, the Pact Group.

“We entered into a joint venture partnership with the Pact Group to become part of the Astron sustainability division late last year,” said Dale Smith.

Pact is the largest manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging products in Australasia with a growing presence in Asia.

Mr Smith said the move provided the platform for a new era of further growth for the local business.

“Whereas we had limited customers to supply PET (polyethylene terephthalate, the chemical name for polyester) to, Pact have many within their own group who need recycled PET and HD (high-density polyethylene) material and this is now our specialty process that we have refined over the last seven years. We are now regarded as preferred suppliers to many major companies.

“We will be seeing more material coming to Narrabri for processing.”

The partnership is a major plus for the local business and for Narrabri.

“It means for us a much stronger supply chain of material and much stronger markets,” said Mr Smith. “And the opportunity for the business to grow a lot more than just under our own resources.

“The Pact Group process in excess of 200,000 tonnes of virgin resin each year. They have a commitment to the government that by 2025, 30 per cent of all their product will be recycled content so they need 60,000 tonnes of recyclable material and our Narrabri facility will play a significant role in supplying that material.

“It is a strategic partnership for Australian Recycled Plastics but we remain very much a local business – it’s business as usual.”

Australian Recycled Plastics provides jobs for 35 local employees, and operates five days a week, 24 hours a day at its Narrabri West plant.

“We source our plastics for recycling from all over the east coast of Australia but nowadays more and more is coming from the container deposits scheme,” said Mr Smith.

Pact Group is one of the biggest entities in the plastics market in Australia, with $1.8 billion turnover a year.

“They own 110 businesses in Australia. And they are pretty excited to be in Narrabri, they recognise the potential here particularly the possibilities of the gas industry and cheaper energy,” said Mr Smith.

At the Canberra National Plastics Summit in March this year, the Pact Group announced it would invest $500 million in facilities, research and technology to increase the use of sustainable packaging.

The result will be that Pact will have 30 per cent recycled content across its product portfolio by 2025 and keep nearly two billion plastic containers out of landfill.

Narrabri Shire Council’s Economic Development Manager Bill Birch said Dale and Helen Smith’s establishment of Australian Recycled Plastics had been ‘ahead of its time.’

“They identified the need and established the business in Narrabri years ago,” he said.

“Australian Recycled Plastics has stopped thousands of tonnes of plastics going to landfill and has been integral in providing recycled plastic product to downstream manufacturers who produce a range of products including benches, decking, drink bottles and packaging.”