Repurpose It: 2020 Winner – Small and Medium Enterprises
Australian-first Washing Plant
Based on their three key objectives – to deliver a positive environmental outcome for the state of Victoria, establish a niche in the construction and development waste materials arena, and position themselves and Victoria as leaders in construction and demolition resource recovery – Repurpose It (RPI) successfully launched their Washing Plant which diverts large volumes of construction waste that has historically been sent to landfill.
After being awarded the first EPA licence to process category C Waste Product, accreditation was obtained across key stakeholder sectors for the use of recycled sand, glass and aggregate materials that had not previously been approved for use. RPI attained approval from the Department of Transport to produce industry-first engineering materials to support road construction utilising the recovered clay from the washing process.
In March 2019, publicly listed engineering company, Downer, acquired a 50% share of RPI and the business has been able to leverage this relationship to promote the use of recycled materials such as sand, aggregates and glass in road making applications like asphalt manufacturing.