Visy has announced it will invest $700 million on a massive expansion of its Queensland recycling and remanufacturing operations.
Under the plan, the company will invest $500 million to build a new glass food and beverage container recycling and manufacturing facility in Yatala; a new $150 million corrugated box factory at Hemmant; and invest $48 million in major upgrades to the company’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF) on Gibson Island.
Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt said it is the largest investment and is part of his pledge to invest $2 billion in Australia over the decade.
Visy will relocate its current glass re-manufacturing operations from South Brisbane to Yatala, expected in 2025, paving the way for the site along the Brisbane River to be used as the International Broadcasting Centre for the 2032 Olympic Games.
The projects will create more than 900 jobs in construction, and support 300 green collar, remanufacturing jobs once operational.
Pratt said the state of the art factory will help towards increasing the recycled content in Visy’s glass packaging to 70 per cent, reduce landfill, and reduce the use of natural resources by using the most modern energy efficient manufacturing technology available.
The facility, which will produce about 1 billion glass containers a year, will support Queensland’s beverage manufacturers. The company’s new $150 million corrugated box factory at Hemmant will service the state’s agricultural sector.
Visy’s upgrade to its MRF at Gibson Island will divert up to an additional 30,000kt of material from landfill. Visy currently recycles more than 250,000 tonnes of material from kerbside collections a year.
Pratt said it was important to recycle because as things decay in the landfill they emit methane gas, which is up to 84 times more harmful than CO2.
“Recycling is an important weapon against climate change and the Queensland Government is to be congratulated for its support for practical environmental measures, like recycling, that all Queenslanders can participate in,” he said.
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