Funded project – Building Australia's first Synthetic Turf Recycling Hub

Last updated: 30 January 2024
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Project lead: Tuff Group
Status: In progress
Funding source: Circular Economy Business Support Fund
Funding amount: $500,000
Co-contribution: $1,460,945

Delivering Australia's first synthetic turf recycling facility, in regional Victoria, with a processing capacity of 7,680 tonnes per annum.

Recovered materials, including plastic, sand and rubber, will be reused in the installation of synthetic turf, and surplus materials will be sold back to the market.

Victoria Regional BSF Turf Construction Landscaping

Background

The project aims to deliver Australia’s first synthetic turf recycling facility capable of processing turf waste and recovering 98% of the raw materials for repurposing and redistribution. This 100% sustainable end-of-life processing plant will be based in regional Victoria and will support the Victorian economy by providing businesses with a low cost, ethical alternative to using virgin materials, and by influencing behaviour change to achieve a circular, climate resistant economy.

The plant will be capable of recycling 4 to 5 tonnes of synthetic turf per hour, thus producing 4 to 5 tonnes of raw materials (i.e. sand, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), polyethylene (PE) fibre, and polypropylene (PP)) that can be recirculated in the economy through sale to local businesses and industries.

It’s estimated that the plant will process approximately 7,000 tonnes of used synthetic turf each year, diverting waste from local landfills and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 19,000 tonnes each year.

Objectives

  • Build and commence operations of a new facility to recycle synthetic turf in Victoria and Australia, with a processing capacity of 7,680 tonnes per annum.
  • Reduce waste to landfill by 7,680 tonnes per annum once the hub is operating at scale.
  • Increase the value and duration of synthetic turf materials through sale to local businesses and industries.
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Generate a new circular economy business model and jobs in regional Victoria.
  • Recover sand and rubber for beneficial reuse including in synthetic turf, recover and pelletise plastics for on selling as a recycled material input to other manufacturing processes.

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