Pact Group’s SULO kerbside collection bins are now being made with up to 100% recycled plastic.
After extensive testing and trials, Pact is now able to use recycled household packaging waste, such as empty shampoo, detergent and sauce bottles, and lids from jars and bottles to make the new SULO bins.
The packaging waste is recycled at the Pact-operated Circular Plastics Australia (CPA) recycling facility in Laverton, Victoria, a joint venture with Cleanaway Waste Management. The plastic bottles, jars and lids are sorted, shredded and washed in the facility before being turned into a high-quality resin suitable for SULO bin manufacturing.
The resin is blended with recycled plastic pellets from end-of-life bins which are collected from local councils and waste management companies across Australia and processed at Pact recycling facilities in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
The new recycled 120lt and 240lt SULO bins are manufactured in dark colours such as black and dark green which enables them to be made with up to 100% recycled plastic. This reduces the need to use virgin resin sourced from fossil fuels.
Using recycled resin to manufacture new SULO bins is also claimed to “significantly reduce” the carbon emissions as well as the water usage from the manufacturing process.
Pact Recycling & Reuse Executive General Manager Shareef Khan says making SULO bins from up to 100% recycled plastic is a game-changer for the waste management industry.
“By using discarded plastic packaging in addition to the norm of using old mobile garbage bins, we are able to provide a reliable and high-quality source of recycled plastic to make new SULO bins and reduce our environmental impact,” he says.
“We have created a circular economy for kerbside bins, and the plastic waste that householders put in them, by creating new products from old ones.”
SULO bins are used for general waste, recycling, food and garden organics, and glass collection and have been rolled out to more than 200 local councils across Australia as well as for commercial customers.
The recycled bins are said to meet the same quality and performance standards as the bins made with virgin resin or a combination of virgin and recycled resin.