Recycling fund grants $630,000 to develop new uses for recycled materials

The Recycling Victoria Innovation Fund will provide $630,000 to five outstanding projects to research and develop novel uses for recycled materials in daily items.

Victoria will save over 660 tonnes of garbage each year and create more than 40 jobs as a result of the newest batch of grantees.

Lily D’Ambrosio, minister for Energy, Environment, and Climate Change, said that by accelerating companies’ adoption of circular economy possibilities, they’re generating employment and lowering costs for Victorians – and keeping their communities and the environment flourishing by decreasing waste. These initiatives will have an exponential influence on Victorian building and industry, lowering Victorians’ prices.

Cross Laminated Offsite Solutions (CLOS) earned $150,000 to demonstrate how their prefabrication of home components, such as floor, wall, and roof panels, is faster, cheaper, and waste-free.

CLOS will demonstrate to other construction businesses how their offsite building process decreases structural build time by 50%, overall build time by 25%, and waste materials by 50% when compared to standard onsite methods.

Prefabricated panels from CLOS’ Avalon facility will be used to build 26 townhouses on Geelong’s waterfront as well as four apartments in Reservoir later this year. Prefabrication will allow net-zero residences to be easily welded together on site, with the final homes being made available to low-income families through a shared-equity financing arrangement.

The funds are part of the Labor Government’s Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC), and they will finance four other initiatives that will create circular solutions for the textile sector.

A $100,000 grant has been awarded to a study conducted by the University of Melbourne to investigate ways to safely reuse disposable medical gowns. A $150,000 grant will enable Kathmandu, an outdoor apparel company, to investigate the renewal and resale of damaged or undesired garments.

Deakin University’s project has been granted nearly $150,000 to pursue research into the production of bio-based yarns and textiles based on the nest fibers of Australian native bees.

Furthermore, $85,000 will be used to assist local fashion label A.BCH in developing a strategy to reduce textile waste by transferring surplus fabrics to companies and customers through an online platform.

The government launched CEBIC in 2020 with a $7 million investment over four years as part of a $515 million investment to restructure Victoria’s waste and recycling sector.