CEFC provides $16.5 million in support to billion-bottle recycling plant in Albury-Wodonga

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has announced it is providing up to $16.5 million in debt finance for the Cleanaway/Pact Group/Asahi Beverages factory currently being built in Albury-Wodonga.

“The project will draw on $16.5 million in debt finance from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, for a total debt finance package of $33 million, to build the $45 million state-of-the-art recycling facility,” said CEFC.

When complete, the plant would have capacity to recycle up to the equivalent of a billion PET bottles annually, and turn this into 20,000 tonnes of new bottles and food packaging.

“The CEFC investment supports Australia’s recycling industry at a time of significant change in the sector,” said CEFC Ian Learmonth in a statement.

“We are particularly proud that the Australian Recycling Investment Fund’s first investment builds Australia’s capacity to generate high value recycled commodities that create an important revenue stream while also reducing carbon emissions.”

It is the first investment CEFC has made under the Australian Recycling Investment Fund.

The plant will be powered by renewable energy, with a collection of solar panels being installed. The capacity of these was not given.

The pelletising plant was announced in early-2020. The joint venture will see Cleanaway collect and provide feedstock, with Pact and Asahi will the primary customers for this once processed.

The news follows a ban on exporting mixed plastic waste from Australia, which came into effect July 1.

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