Regional Western Australia introduces state’s first mobile glass crusher

RoeROC (Roe Regional Organisation of Councils) has celebrated the launch of the first mobile glass crusher in Western Australia. The Komplet MT5000 mobile glass crusher will increase glass recycling rates in the region by processing glass bottles and jars collected from households and businesses in Corrigin, Kulin, Kondinin and Narembeen Councils. The recovered glass (known as RCG) will then be used locally in civil construction applications, diverting around 800 tonnes of glass from landfill annually, or more than 4.5 million stubbies.

The Komplet MT5000 mobile glass crusher.

The project is a joint initiative funded and supported by the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF), the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC), the Western Australian Waste Authority and four RoeROC councils including Corrigin, Kulin, Kondinin and Narembeen. All four participating councils have agreed to use RCG in their civil construction applications, thereby creating a local market for the material and reducing the need to mine virgin sand. The Shire of Corrigin will manage the mobile glass crushing on behalf of RoeROC.

The mobile glass crusher is one of a number of projects around the nation which will increase the recovery of glass for recycling and ensure sustainable and economically viable alternative uses for RCG. RCG can be used for a wide range of civil construction purposes in place of natural sand, such as in asphalt and concrete pavements, kerb and guttering, pole footings, pipe bedding and in road base. It is safe to handle and has been proved to perform well as an aggregate additive in these applications.

Corrigin Shire CEO Julian Murphy said, “RoeROC has been working cooperatively for a number of years on waste management and recycling. As a group we are excited about the potential that this new glass crusher provides to reduce the amount of glass going to landfill and convert it to a product we can use in civil works including, footpaths, roads and drainage.”

PSF General Manager Jenny Pickles congratulated RoeROC and its member councils for their enthusiasm and support for this innovative regional recycling initiative.

“The decision by RoeROC and four of its member councils to process and re-use collected glass in local civil construction provides significant opportunities to boost glass recycling rates,” she said.

“Establishing a market for the use of RCG as an alternative to virgin sand in civil construction applications is of particular importance for regional and remote communities in WA (and other areas of Australia) that are challenged by considerable distances and associated costs to get materials to end markets for recycling. The mobile glass crusher provides a means to increase glass recycling in regional areas and reduce costs to local governments.”

“RoeROC and its member councils are worthy of recognition for demonstrating forward thinking and vision in finding an economically viable alternative to sending post-consumer glass to landfill,” said Stan Moore, CEO, Australian Packaging Covenant.

“It is pleasing to see this group of regional Western Australian councils prepared to work with us to increase Australia’s recycling of used consumer glass and contributing to our target of a 70% recycling rate for all packaging by mid-2015.”