The Albanese Labor Government is launching a new $60 million fund for hard-to-recycle plastics, including soft plastics like shopping bags, bread bags, cling wrap and chip packets.
The funding will support new or upgraded recycling infrastructure projects such as:
- advanced recycling to turn plastic back into oil for re-use in food-grade packaging
- commercialisation of trial technology targeting ways to keep hard-to-recycle plastics in use
- extraction and processing of plastics from e-waste into valuable products
- diverting more plastics from landfill using advanced sorting, separation and de-contamination technology such as optical or robotic machinery
These projects will help speed up the shift away from virgin plastics, towards a circular economy where materials are kept in use for as long as possible.
Combined with contributions from state and territory governments and industry, the funding will add to the more than $600 million of combined investment in recycling infrastructure the Government is already delivering.
The Albanese Labor Government has already funded 57 additional plastic recycling facilities, 12 of which are up and running.
