Recycling ecology park opens $100m mixed waste plant

Sustainable recycling and waste management solutions provider BINGO Industries has opened what is claimed to be the world’s largest and most advanced dry mixed waste recycling facility at its Eastern Creek Recycling Ecology Park in Western Sydney.

The new $100 million state-of-the-art recycling facility is fitted with some of the world’s most advanced resource recovery and manufacturing technology and, when fully operational, will be capable of diverting approximately 90% of materials from landfill.

Construction of the facility has been supported by a $5 million grant from the NSW Environmental Trust as part of the NSW Government’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.

“Recycling and waste management are both key environmental issues and key economic opportunities,” Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said. “I applaud BINGO for being at the leading edge of the supply curve as the market for recycled materials will continue to grow.

“We want people, companies and industries to have a genuine reason to recycle, to have confidence in the process and in the new products that will be created.

“The Morrison government is committed to the process and Bingo have made it clear today that they are committed,” Minister Ley said.

NSW EPA CEO Tracy Mackey added that, “The EPA encourages the waste sector to find innovative solutions that can help preserve resources and prevent waste from going to landfill.

“This facility supports the move towards a circular economy and with the $5m funding received from the NSW Government I look forward to seeing the innovative outcomes of this project near the end of 2021,” she said.

BINGO Managing Director and CEO Daniel Tartak said delivery of this project was significant for not only BINGO but also for the growth and development of Australia’s circular economy.

“As companies like BINGO, encouraged by supportive government policy, begin to invest in these world-class assets, we are starting to see a shift away from our traditional model of ‘take, make and dispose’ towards a circular model where resources are preserved and reused,” Tartak said.

“Our vision is for a waste-free Australia. Completion of this project will be a significant milestone in the development of our world-class Recycling Ecology Park, which is a central part of achieving this vision,” he said.

Federal Environment Minister, the Hon. Sussan Ley MP and the Hon. Trevor Evans MP, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, along with NSW EPA CEO Tracy Mackey helped BINGO cut the ribbon on the new state-of-the-art recycling facility.

The 9000 m² plant is expected to process up to 7000 tonnes of materials a day or 300 tonnes per hour. The new plant is capable of processing building and demolition and commercial and industrial waste.

The advanced screening, sorting and processing technology installed in the new plant will produce a high-quality end product, most of which will be turned into BINGO’s ECO Product range of recycled building and landscaping products such as aggregate, roadbase, sand, soil, mulches, paper, cardboard, plastics and metals.

“BINGO’s recycling segment and revenue from our recycled products continue to grow each year. We have a big vision for our Eastern Creek Ecology Park with development plans underway for additional facilities at the site to deliver solutions for other waste streams such as tyres, plastics and glass,” Tartak said.

“We are really proud of what we have achieved here, this has been our biggest development to date and it is an exciting time to be operating in the recycling industry,” he said.

Construction of this project has created some 400 construction jobs and will generate up to 100 jobs once operational.

Expected to be fully operational in July this year, the plant has been fitted with the latest in safety, environment and fire-management technology and rainwater catchment tanks. The recycling centre will also be fitted with rooftop solar later this year, as part of BINGO’s RE100 commitment to achieve 100% renewable electricity across all its sites by 2025.