Page 9 - Packaging News Mar-Apr 2020

March-April 2020 | www.packagingnews.com.au
| NEWS 9
MOU inked for plastic recycling plant
PACT Group, Cleanaway, and Asahi Beverages signed an MOU in February to jointly develop a plastic pelletising facility in Northern Victoria.
The facility is to have a capac- ity to process up to 28,000 tonnes of plastic bottles and other recyclables into flake and food-grade pellets, which will be used as raw material to pro- duce packaging for food and beverages.
Cleanaway will provide feed- stock through its collection and sorting network. Pact will pro- vide technical and packaging expertise, and Asahi Beverages
and Pact will buy most of the recycled pellets from the facil- ity to use in their packaging.
The proposed facility will be in Albury/Wodonga to service markets across the Australian east coast.
Pact’s managing director and CEO, Sanjay Dayal, said estab- lishing the facility would be a meaningful step in improving the plastics value chain. “The arrangement is clearly aligned with our vision to lead the cir- cular economy and will sup- port Pact in achieving our 2025 Sustainability Promise to offer 30 per cent recycled content
The planned facility will have a capacity for 28,000 tonnes of plastic bottles.
LJM teams up with Hoop
CO-PACKER LJM is expanding into New Zealand, forming a joint venture with brand activa- tion specialist Hoop.
LJM said the aim of the ven- ture would become the “go-to service provider for all co- packing requirements in the New Zealand market”.
LJM employs more than 500 people across New South Wales and Victoria and moves about 60 million packaged products annually for FMCG, food, bev- erages, spirits, and pharmaceu- ticals companies.
Lance Miles, director and founder at LJM, said the compa- ny’s co-packing expertise, com-
LJM employs more than 500 people across NSW and Vic.
bined with Hoop’s marketing capabili- ty would be a formi- dable combination in New Zealand.
“There are cur- rently no dedicated co-packing compa-
nies in New Zealand. It is an untapped market that is waiting to be serviced. The joint venture will help leapfrog the busi- nesses to become the leading co-packing specialists in New Zealand,” he said.
“This is the first time a co- packing company has part- nered with a brand activation company on this scale. The decision to partner with Hoop was influenced by their reputa- tion in New Zealand, a shared FMCG target market, and com- plimentary service offering. LJM’s size and scale will help drive the co-packing market in New Zealand.” ■
across our packaging portfo- lio,” Dayal said.
Cleanaway CEO Vik Bansal said the partnership would cre- ate valuable materials from the waste Cleanaway collects. “It is a natural extension of our value chain and expands our foot- print of prized assets,” he said.
Group CEO of Asahi Beverages, Robert Iervasi, said
“This venture will allow us to use Australian-sourced recy- cled plastic resins to assist in meeting our sustainability commitment to transition our portfolio to recycled plastics.”
The project is supported by a grant to Cleanaway from the Environmental Trust as part of NSW’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative. ■