Plastics recycling facility benefits from innovative wastewater treatment system

Circular Plastics Australia’s latest success story in regional New South Wales saw the company working with Australian wastewater expert Aerofloat to ensure a sustainable solution that offers large water savings.

Aerofloat’s innovative design enables the facility to either reuse cleaned wash water within the plastics recycling facility or discharge the water to sewer, making it an environmentally sound solution.

The Circular Plastics plant is a joint venture between Asahi Beverages and Coca Cola Europacific Partners, Pact Group Holdings Ltd and Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd. This is the third venture that Astron Sustainability, a subsidiary of Pact Group, and Aerofloat have worked on together.

Aerofloat’s General Manager, Michael Anderson, said the design for the site needed to meet key environmental regulations that echoed the regional council’s commitment to a small environmental footprint.

“Our design needed to ensure a long-term solution for Circular Plastics and allow for potential expansion of the business in time. Council guidelines were strict for this project, so we wanted to ensure that we capitalised on every opportunity to reuse clean wastewater as wash water within the plant. The resulting system is our most sophisticated for the industry to date.”

Aerofloat installed its circular dissolved air flotation unit to treat the anticipated high flow volumes of wash water. Its design ensures any suspended solids and soluble contaminants such as sugars are removed effectively. In addition, a biological treatment system, clarification process and sludge dewatering technology ensure the facility meets the firm trade waste obligations.

“The Albury/Wodonga area has numerous inland waterways, including the Murray River and its tributaries. Managing microplastics in the wastewater was therefore critical to the design. We therefore worked very closely with Council to engineer a solution that would meet its strict requirements around this.”

Aerofloat is an Australian, family-owned company that has been awarded for its innovative approach to tackling plastics recycling wastewater issues.

“We offer unique, patented designs that ensure economical and environmentally sustainable solutions for the industry. Aerofloat has come to be recognised for this by the rapidly growing plastics recycling industry,” Anderson said.

“Plastics recycling is fast becoming a booming industry with both government and private businesses turning their eyes towards fulfilling the promises Australia has made to improving its recycling practices,” he added.

The Circular Plastics facility in Albury/Wodonga is claimed to be Australia’s biggest end-to-end recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant, recycling up to one billion 600 mL PET plastic bottles annually.

The project was delivered on time and on budget, despite the issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aerofloat continues to work closely with the Circular Plastics operations team by supporting key services onsite. Its ongoing commitment to the venture ensures the plant runs at optimum levels with minimal chemical consumption. Aerofloat’s design is complemented by its fully automated PLC control system that allows its engineers to anticipate and prevent potential issues even when offsite. The system also accommodates future integration of additional Aerofloat technology if the business expands.

Aerofloat’s innovative technology is designed to reduce costs while ensuring a strong, sustainable solution.