Australian pulper boosts paper recycling

Australian paper recycling major Visy has installed a drum pulper at its Melbourne, Victoria, facility. The company has invested AUD 42.5 million (EUR 39 million) in the upgrade.

The drum pulper, said to be the first of its kind in the country, will allow scrap paper collected from kerbside recycling in Victoria to be processed into new packaging.

The installation will double Visy’s kerbside recycling capability in the state, saving up to 180 000 tonnes of paper and cardboard per year from export or Victoria’s landfills.

Visy says it will process the collected paper and cardboard into 100% recycled paper and corrugated packaging for pizza boxes, the agricultural sector and various food and beverage brands.

The upgrade is part of a commitment from Visy ceo Anthony Pratt in March 2021 to invest US$ 2 billion (EUE 1.85) over the next decade toward reducing landfilling, cutting emissions and creating ‘well-paying green collar jobs’ across Australia.

‘Landfill avoidance business’   

‘This is a very important day for our company because we’re not only manufacturers,’ says Pratt. ‘We’re actually in the landfill avoidance business, which is good for greenhouse gas reduction as well, because as things decay in landfill they produce methane gas which is 84 times worse for climate change than carbon dioxide. So recycling is an important weapon against climate change.’

Visy received funding from both the Victorian and federal governments to get the project off the ground.