Brendale's new $137m recycling centre

One of Australia’s biggest paper recycling centres is to be built in Brendale.

The $137 million facility will turn 220,000 tonnes of waste paper and cardboard into pulp each year for export.

The Australian Recycled Pulp and Paper Project (ARPPP) has received $40 million from the Federal and State governments through the Recycling Modernisation Fund.

Industry is contributing $97 million to the total cost of a project which will support about 195 construction jobs and 58 ongoing jobs.

The ARPPP will process packaging, newspaper, coffee cups, milk cartons and office paper, from Queensland and northern NSW, into paper pulp for paper mills.

Announcing new centre - click through

Construction is expected to start in mid-2024 and finish mind 2025 on a facility which will help Queensland meet its waste recovery and recycling targets.

“ARPPP is waste-paper processing and recycling on a scale never before seen in Queensland,” State Acting Premier, Minister for State Development and Member for Murrumba Steven Miles said.

“By working with industry, we’re boosting local manufacturing and exports by turning waste paper into a valued resource that’s in demand globally by paper mills who rely on recycled inputs.”

AusWaste Recycling Director Vincent Liang said the ARPPP will strengthen its national recycling industry, increase capabilities and create new jobs.

“Instead of baling and shipping waste paper we’ll be processing and manufacturing a higher-value product,” Mr Laing said.

Artists impressions of new centre - click through

“We already have well-established relationships in Asia with paper mill operators who are seeking paper pulp and the ARPPP will mean we’re ideally positioned to provide it to them.”

Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said the new facility will “supercharge recycling in Queensland.

“It means that paper and cardboard waste, like egg cartons and cereal boxes, can be sorted and processed in Queensland,” she said.

“This is just one of 24 recycling projects we are funding across Queensland. These projects are creating 740 jobs and will process an extra 364,000 tonnes of waste.

“That’s the equivalent to over 27 Story Bridges of waste being kept out of landfill every year.”