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Plastoil: Our Partner Down Under

A system's collapse – a new opportunity

Plastoil: Our Partner Down Under

23. October 2024

Chief Technology Officer

REDcycle, an Australian soft plastics collection and recycling program, was launched in 2011. After much confusion and various scandals, the system collapsed in 2022. A practical solution to this problem had to be found urgently. This is where our Australian business partner Plastoil came to the fore.

Learning lessons from failure

Probably the only positive thing to come out of the failure of the REDcycle collection and recycling program: the brutal exposure of the glaring shortcomings of plastic waste management in Australia, especially the absence of scalable recycling solutions. Australia produces roughly 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste every year; 400,000 tonnes of which is in the form of plastic packaging. The country's recycling infrastructure is unable to cope with this volume. In the state of Victoria, for example, less than 16% of plastic waste is recycled and kept out of landfill. The Australian Government aims to achieve an 80% average waste recovery rate nationwide by 2030. Moreover, a 2025 target is the full-scale use of 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging. These targets are viewed as being highly ambitious and unlikely to be achieved. For Paul Wilton, founder and CEO of Plastoil, the answer was obvious: Australia needs new technologies!

Win-win partnership

On the other side of the world, I was busy exchanging ideas with Dr Claus Doll from the . We were certain that there is an expanding market for chemical recycling in Australia. What we needed, however, was access to the participants of this market, i.e. waste processing, recycling and petrochemical companies. This is how we came across Plastoil, a company that offered what we were looking for.

We were certain that there is an expanding market for chemical recycling in Australia.

Paul liked our concept of the . And then it all went very quickly from there. The partnership, which Paul describes as follows, began in September 2023: «Plastoil is working the markets in Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia so as to introduce enespa's innovative recycling technologies for processing mixed plastic waste, waste oils and used tyres.»

First enespa WastX pyrolysis system in Australia

The first fruits of this collaboration have already been plucked. Plastoil managing director Arjuna Wimalasuriya, also known as Arj, made contact with the managing director of , Darren Thorpe, who has made a name for himself and his company as a pioneer and leader in the recycling industry. An agreement was soon reached: enespa WastX P5 for plastics recycling met all the requirements. The system is already in Melbourne and ready for installation. We are currently waiting for completion of the new plant facility. APR expects commissioning to be all wrapped up by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

High goals, driven by conviction

Paul and Arj's passion for the circular economy was already there and did not simply begin with the launch of our partnership. Both of them have been involved in the industry for many years and offer a wealth of experience in all aspects of it. So, it should not come as a big surprise that they will be optimistically forging ahead with numerous projects over the coming months. Another major milestone is an ongoing project in Ararat, Australia: a pyrolysis system designed to process 100 tonnes of mixed plastic waste daily – with an order volume of approximately 100 million euros. The search for prospective investors will be concluded this year, after which the implementation phase can begin. By the end of 2025, we aim to have delivered all the necessary system technology for the Ararat project. Further, Plastoil is on the brink of selling three plastic-to-oil conversion plants. Indeed, this partnership sets high goals – driven by conviction.

Play Video about Von unserem australischen Geschäftspartner Plastoil durften wir den Gründer Paul Wilton und Managing Director Arj Wimalasuriya in Tangstedt empfangen.

Watch the video of us welcoming Paul Wilton and Arj Wimalasuriya of our Australian business partner Plastoil to Tangstedt, Germany.

Play Video about Von unserem australischen Geschäftspartner Plastoil durften wir den Gründer Paul Wilton und Managing Director Arj Wimalasuriya in Tangstedt empfangen.

Watch the video of us welcoming

the founder, Paul Wilton, and the managing director, Arj Wimalasuriya, of our Australian business partner to Tangstedt, Germany.

Author

Ben Richters

Chief Technology Officer

Member of the Board of Directors

After completing his technical training and gaining initial professional experience in the automotive sector, Ben Richters transitioned into mechanical engineering. As a graduate engineer, he shifted his focus to plant engineering, particularly in the field of petrochemical industry. In 2015, he became an entrepreneur in the green tech circular economy industry. He joined enespa in mid-2022 as the developer of the enespa pyrolysis plant prototype. Outside of work, he finds balance in timber construction. He loves spending time with his family at the harbour in Hamburg.

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