The Queensland Government has announced it will invest $45 million in large-scale projects with a high recovery that tackle waste in three key areas:

• commercial and industrial waste,

• renewable energy technologies, and

• electrical and electronic products and batteries.

By 2030, Queensland aims to recover 80 per cent of all waste and achieve 65 per cent recycling rates across all waste types.

Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Grace Grace, said the funding will provide critical assistance to industry to grow its reprocessing and recycling capacity, particularly for end-of-life solar panels and electrical products such as household appliances.

“The recycling industry has told us that to achieve some of Queensland’s 2030 waste diversion targets, there is a need to concentrate effort towards large-scale projects with co-investment from the Miles Government – so that’s exactly what we are doing,” said Minister Grace.

What and who are the grants for?

Applicants can apply for financial assistance for a maximum of 50 per cent of the total eligible project cost up to $10 million.

To be eligible, the large-scale recycling projects must:

• provide recycling solutions for renewable energy components, particularly solar panels and end of life batteries, including electric vehicle and stationary storage batteries,

• recover, reprocess or recycle end-of-life electronics and household appliances, or

• target the mixed commercial and industrial waste stream.

The type of projects that might be supported include:

• new infrastructure and expansions, and/or equipment upgrades and modifications, to existing recycling/processing facilities,

• high-value recovery processing technologies that can recover a significant percentage of materials from the waste product (e.g. 90% from solar panels),

• mobile processing plants that can work in a variety of locations and at different scales, with high recovery rates,

• increasing end markets for recovered or repurposed waste product or its components, and

• on-shoring processes which have required export of materials that could be processed or refined in Queensland.

How can I apply?

The Queensland Government has called on industry to submit expressions of interest for the funding, which will remain open until the funding is exhausted.

For more information or to express interest, visit the Queensland Government’s Recycling and Jobs Fund.