The vision
Australia is committed to ending plastic waste through local and regional legislation that targets sustainable waste management. National goals include an 80% reduction in plastic waste by 2030, while the National Plastics Plan 2021 promotes a gradual shift to a circular economy.
Regulations to stop plastic waste exports to China for disposal were implemented six to eight years ago, but an outright ban has now kicked in and expansion in local processing capacity needs to be a priority, according to Pact Group Executive General Manager, Sustainability, Andrew Smith.
“I think we can all probably appreciate that recycling plastic is more beneficial environmentally than incineration that releases toxic carbon emissions into the atmosphere. We’re really proud that we’ve been able to partner with CPA and the joint venture partners to remove significant amounts of hard plastics from plant fills right across Australia,” he says.
“This is the local circular economy in action and represents a positive step towards closing the loop on these household recyclable products and creating circularity in Australia.”
The legal requirements and timeline to reach waste reduction goals are different for each state, but none can avoid the inevitable transition to sustainability - or the immediate need to increase circular processing of plastics, he adds.
See how DLL is enabling circularity across Australia. Read our press release.
The Challenge
Circularity is all about changing attitudes and habits towards plastic disposal to ensure nothing goes to waste, explains Lizette Sint, Group Executive Wholesale Banking at DLL’s parent company, Rabobank.
“As a leading food and agri bank, we see plastic and plastic packaging as key to preserving food freshness and mitigating food waste, so the dilemma comes from dealing with problems caused by plastic and yet needing plastics for the food chain – and that’s what we need to solve,” she comments.
Asset finance plays a powerful role to facilitate action and drive expansion in sustainable solutions, Sint asserts. Partnering with DLL provides businesses with financial stability during periods of expansion and opens the door to new opportunities.
“DLL can leverage its global network by connecting players at all steps of the value chain. Collaboration in this challenge is a necessity, it’s not a luxury. Our belief is that no single player can do this on their own because of the interdependencies,” she says.
The Solution
Rabobank was approached by CPA to assist in the acquisition of the Laverton plant and purchase of sorting, washing and extrusion equipment at a total cost of AUD$50m.
Critical to the project was securing a progressive payment solution that allowed for flexibility and reduced the initial capital expenditure. As the regional Rabobank subsidiary, DLL provided an AUD $23.5 million funding line for construction and equipment to facilitate CPA’s site acquisition and installation of the recycling plant.
DLL ANZ Managing Director, Michael McInerney, explains: “DLL is a strong supporter of circularity and was identified as the right partner to engage. Finance for businesses is all about relationships: it’s about partnerships, listening, structuring and really understanding each other’s business needs.”
It was important for CPA to have a simplified, flexible financial solution that covered both the installation and the operating life of the facility and DLL was able to structure a solution to deliver on those needs.
With both DLL and CPA on board, the Pact Group was able to develop the site and generated enough capacity to process 20,000 tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene plastic waste every year (from milk bottles, dairy containers, shampoo, detergent and food packaging) – equal to the weight two Eiffel Towers.
Sustainability is core to our operations. Discover how our solutions contribute to businesses refurbishing equipment. Read our blog
The Future
“The solution allowed CPA to address a time-sensitive regulation in Australia,” continues McInerney. “Businesses have 2025 National Packaging Targets which include: 100% of packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable; 70% of plastic packaging going on to be recycled or composted; and on average, 50% of the packaging being recycled content (20% for plastic packaging).”
The Laverton plant is a big step forward towards plastics circularity, but this is only the beginning. DLL can support new and existing customers through strategic partnerships and deliver innovative finance solutions, such as long-term funding options to spread cash flow, and help facilitate growth in sustainable plastics processing.
“DLL is committed to providing financial support to the food, packaging, recycling, and waste sectors. The transition to financing recycling initiatives aligns seamlessly with our commitment to supporting the circular economy,” concludes McInerney.
In conjunction with the Financial Times, DLL has produced a video that shares more about the project achievements and objectives as well as our partnership and how recycling and reusing plastics extends the life of the products and contributes to the betterment of our environment.
For more information, click on the Packaging cuts food waste – but how do we solve the plastic problem? | FT Food Revolution (youtube.com) here or reach out to us at Corporate Responsibility (dllgroup.com).