New glass recycling plant for Lara

CONSTRUCTION giant Fulton Hogan will create a new regional glass processing hub in Lara after winning a $740,000 joint state and federal recycling grant earlier this month.

The company will feed the glass into asphalt it produces at the same site which will then be laid on local roads.

Construction on the facility is expected to start later in the year and once up and running is expected to source “up to 10,000 tonnes of glass per year from Geelong and other local councils areas,” Fulton Hogan Infrastructure Services general manager Peter Curl said.

Two jobs will be created via the project, one in construction and another to operate the facility.

It’s the companies second such facility in the region, with another glass processing hub at Warrnambool that uses recycled car tyres and plastics in some asphalt products.

“This initiative provides a local reuse option for local recovered materials and strengthens the availability of sustainable solutions and local manufacturing in the Geelong area,” Mr Curl said.

The grant is one of 13 projects funded through the Recycling Victoria and Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF), which is designed to improve Victoria’s plastics, glass and tyre recycling infrastructure.

The projects are expected to increase the state’s recycling capacity by more than 137,000 tonnes each year and create up to 204 local jobs.

“It’s fantastic to see industry partnering with government through the RMF, creating local jobs and innovating regional facilities,” Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson said.