RPA Kilburn gets $20m federal grant to start $60m soft plastics recycling centre

It’s been nearly two years since we recycled our bread bags and chip packets at the supermarket – but that could be about to change.

A Kilburn recycling plant will become the most “prominent” soft-plastic processor in the country after winning a $20m federal grant that will also create about 50 technical jobs in Adelaide.
Paving a return to large-scale soft plastic recycling at supermarkets in Australia, Recycling Plastic Australia will build a new shed on the site and buy highly technical machinery as it matches the grant for a $60m project.

More than 14,000 tonnes of soft plastics such as bread and shopping bags or chip packets would be diverted from landfill once the plant is running, with plans to have the shed built by Christmas, general manager Stephen Scherer said.

Australia uses about 70 billion pieces of soft plastic every year – or around 538,000 tonnes. RPA focuses on the ‘hard to recycle’ plastic.

RPA can now buy the machinery needed for the problematic recycling of soft plastics – or film – and employ people under a $60m project.

Daniel Field working at Recycling Plastics Australia in Kilburn Picture: Morgan Sette

“The chairman was saying we could grow up to 200 jobs, but it’s about 50 or so in the start,” Mr Scherer said.

“These will be chemists, engineers, high-end stuff, in technical and production management.

“These jobs will be much better jobs, because the application is higher.”

Soft plastics are no longer recycled at supermarkets after the REDcycle program collapsed in November 2022.

The specialised machinery allow the soft plastics to be washed of ink or aluminium coating, which makes recycling film difficult.

Under its new direction, RPA will work with PreOne Australia, the company that controls the technology that allows soft plastic recycling to work.

“We can wash it so you’re able to mechanically recycle the material,” Mr Scherer said. “If you couldn’t do that, the end product is not worth it.”

Recycling Plastics Australia general manager Stephen Scherer. Picture: Morgan Sette

Mr Scherer said the return of large-scale soft plastic recycling across Australia “depended on the behaviour of the brands and the supermarkets”.

The $20m grant comes from the federal government’s $60m Recycling Modernisation Fund Plastics Technology stream.

Recycling Plastics Australia chairman Peter Gregg said RPA had a “proud history” of leading the circular economy by recycling plastics that are difficult to process.”

“This funding will see our Kilburn site in South Australia become the prominent soft-plastic recycling processor in the country, with materials recycled here and sold into local and global packaging markets.”

Deputy Premier Susan Close said scaling up equipment and personnel to tackle the challenge of soft plastic recycling was the first step in rebuilding infrastructure needed for an effective supermarket ‘take back’ scheme.

RPA can turn the plastic back into pellets, but it can also create a specific plastic packaging for a brand on request.

“The significant thing is, we use the term application specific polymers – which is making what people want,” Mr Scherer said.

“Rather than saying, here’s what we make, we go to a company and they will say, we want this film to go around our product.

“We ask how many tonnes a year, and then it’s our product used to make their packing.

“We asking, how does it have to perform – and then we modify the waste to an extent until the better than virgin material.”

A Soft Plastics Taskforce made up of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi is working on a small-scale trial for in-store soft plastic recycling across 12 Melbourne stores, after the opening of two recycling centres there earlier this year.