New investment for expanded polystyrene recycling

Recycling infrastructure for expanded polystyrene (EPS) has received a welcome boost thanks to a $333,000 grant as part of the Driving Investment for New Recycling Fund administered by Sustainability Victoria. The Minister for Environment and Climate Change Ryan Smith recently announced the funding as part of a $3 million package for a total of 16 individual projects across Victoria. The ‘Local Government Polystyrene Resource Recovery Project’will be coordinated by the Metropolitan Waste Management Group with participation from nine councils (including Moonee Valley, Port Phillip, Knox, Monash, Wyndham, Hume, Boroondara, Whitehorse and Darebin)

  In 2008- 2009 the Plastics and Chemical Industry Association undertook the National Plastics Recycling Survey (funded by Sustainability Victoria). The survey found only 800 tonnes of EPS was collected and reprocessed in Australia during that year and an estimated 19,473 tonnes of EPS landfilled. When translated into lost landfill airspace, this represented between $43 and $73 million in disposal costs for local government. Expanding EPS recycling opportunities through the provision of drop-off facilities has been identified as priority activity by members of the Transfer Station Resource Recovery Centre Network (one of the local government networks coordinated by MWMG).
With the funding, participating resource recovery centres hope to divert around 39,000 cubic metres of expanded polystyrene from landfill each year. This is equivalent to over 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of EPS. Once recycled EPS will be transformed in items such as park benches, decking, retaining walls and recycled content in a construction product.