Victorian Councils turn problem glass into Green Roads

October 15, 2019

Despite the recent shutdown of one of Victoria’s major mixed-waste recyclers leaving more than 30 local councils without a resource recovery provider, several proactive municipalities have found a way to significantly reduce the amount of recyclables going to landfill by joining forces with Alex Fraser to save thousands of tonnes of glass bottles from landfill.

Moonee Valley, Whittlesea, Moorabool and Hobsons Bay have already enlisted the support of Alex Fraser’s RecycleBin service, placing 12m³ bins at their local transfer stations so residents can drop off glass waste to be recycled.

Once full, Alex Fraser takes the RecycleBin to its new state-of-the-art glass recycling plant where the glass is separated from impurities and reprocessed into high quality recycled sand fit for use in range of construction materials, including asphalt and roadbase.

Alex Fraser’s Recycling GM Sean McCormick said the initiative was providing local governments with a good short-term solution.

“It’s wonderful to see that we can work with those municipalities most severely affected by the recycling crisis to find a way to turn their waste glass into valuable resources needed to build greener roads and rail.

“We’re working on providing a similar solution for many more proactive and environmentally focussed councils as well as some major community organisations, like Zoos Victoria”, said Sean.

Mayor of Moonee Valley City Council Cr Narelle Sharpe said, “We’re grateful to be working with Alex Fraser on a solution that recycles our glass into quality construction materials.”

“We know our community is passionate about the environment and we continue to look for solutions to keep recyclables out of landfill while the wider recycling crisis is resolved,” she said.