Work progresses on $3.3m Toowoomba plastics recycling facility at Wellcamp

Construction is well under way on the $3.3m plastics recycling site at a major business park in western Toowoomba, with the facility expected to be opened before the end of the year.

Work is under way on the $3.3m Envorinex plastics recycling plant at Wellcamp Business Park. LEFT: Wagner Corp Denis Wagner and Envorinex director Jenny Brown at the sod turning in February.

A major plastics recycling facility west of Toowoomba could be operating by September, with the plant to employ dozens of people and inject millions into the economy.

Construction is well under way on the $3.3m Envorinex recycling site at the Wellcamp Business Park, with lead contractor Ahrens and Toowoomba subcontractors on track to finish it by the end of the year.

Once fully operational, it will employ up to 36 people and process 8000 tonnes of plastics every year.

Envorinex managing director and co-founder Jenny Brown said the plant was broken into two parts, with HDPE, PP and PVC plastics being processed in the first machine before the resulting pellets were shaped into new products in the second stage.

Ms Brown said company would work with the Toowoomba Regional Council, waste operators, hospitals and private companies to collect waste before selling it back.

“We will be collecting waste from the local area, within a 300km radius, reprocessing it and using them to make new products,” she said.

“We’ve already got contracts with numerous hospitals and transport companies.

“There are contracts for the waste going in and the waste coming out.”

Ms Brown said the concept wasn’t just environmentally beneficial but also financially sound.

“The cost of taking stuff to landfill is far greater than what we would charge them to create these products,” she said.

Ms Brown said the company was planning to install solar panels on the roof to reduce the site’s high energy use during machinery start-ups, while the water required would be completely recycled as well.

Envorinex is also planning to launch a soft plastics plant in Toowoomba within two years.

Ms Brown said the company would benefit from the council getting its own materials recovery facility rather than recyclables being processed in Ipswich.