Funded project – Recycling soft plastics into plastic crude oil
This project will create Victoria’s first operational Advanced Chemical Recycling (ACR) facility, which will recycle soft plastics into oil to be used by the plastic manufacturing industry in the production of new plastics.
Shredded plastic during processing. Image courtesy of APR Plastics. Background
Reports led by government research organisations including CSIRO show that Advanced Chemical Recycling (ACR) is the most economically viable solution for recycling soft plastics back into food grade plastics.
Using this ACR process, APR Plastics will convert kerbside plastic waste, including post-consumer soft plastics, into a plastic crude oil. This oil will be refined back into the raw material that can be used by the plastic manufacturing industry in the production of new plastics.
The funding will allow APR Plastics to move from its pilot research phase, capable of processing up to 1 tonne of plastic per day (365 tonnes per annum) to its commercial and operational phase: the purchase and installation of a modular $3.8 million plant with a processing capacity of 5 tonnes per day (1,800 tonnes per annum).