Licella pledges to help establish a chemical recycling industry for plastic in Australia at National Plastics Summit

On the 2nd March 2020, Licella was invited to attend the National Plastics Summit held by the Federal Government in Canberra, hosted by Minister Sussan Ley.

Licella were again highlighted by Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, in his opening address at the Summit,

“Sydney-based technology company Licella is an example of what is possible. It has developed chemical recycling technology that converts end-of-life plastics into waxes, diesel and new plastics.”

The one-day forum convened a cross-sector of over 200 senior individuals from government, industry and community sectors. The Summit showcased and identified new solutions to the plastic waste challenge and will mobilise further action from governments, industry and non-government organisations. The Summit also identified new opportunities to directly address targets under the National Waste Policy Action Plan.

Ideas and solutions generated at the National Plastics Summit will be used to inform the National Plastic Plan, which the Australian Government has committed to delivering by end 2020. Licella announced their pledge that by

“Working with its partners along the plastic value chain, Licella commits to helping establish a chemical recycling industry in Australia with its Cat HTR™ technology for those 85+% of plastics that are currently non recyclable. Turning waste into a resource and diverting it from landfill.”

Licella’s Australian commercial partners, iQ Renew, made a pledge alongside Nestlé to commence a trial which will see soft plastics collected from over 100,000 homes through kerbside recycling. This will divert approximately 750,000 tonnes of soft plastic from landfill.

The Summit discussed how Industry and Government can come together to help achieve Australia’s National Waste Targets – Agreed by Australia’s Environment Ministers Nov 2019, being:

1. Ban the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres, commencing in the second half of 2020
2. Reduce the total waste generated in Australia by 10% per person by 2030
3. 80% average resource recovery rate from all waste streams following the waste hierarchy by 2030
4. Significantly increase the use of recycled content by governments and industry
5. Phase out problematic and unnecessary plastics by 2025
6. Halve the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 2030
7. Make comprehensive, economy-wide and timely data publicly available to support better consumer, investment and policy decisions