The Andrews Labor Government is delivering local jobs and investment in communities, including Dandenong, through a $13.8 million fund for major infrastructure.

The funding will keep problem products including e-waste, food organics and plastic out of landfill and help drive economic growth across regional and metropolitan Victoria.

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, and State Member for Dandenong, Gabrielle Williams,  today visited Polytrade Pty Ltd, one of 15 companies to secure funding for infrastructure projects to help recover valuable resources and turn them into new products.

The $500,000 grant will allow Polytrade to purchase new machinery to sort and clean small fractions of glass and turn them into new products with guaranteed markets. This will allow them to recover 56,000 tonnes of glass currently sitting in stockpiles and a further 22,000 each year will be recovered and diverted from landfill.

“Some of the items we currently send to landfill contain valuable materials that could be recovered and reused.

“By investing in this important infrastructure, we can ensure that these materials are recovered and turned into valuable products, creating economic value for Victoria,” Gabrielle Williams said.

The first 15 projects, receiving a total of $5.6 million in grants are expected to recover a total of 17,000 tonnes of plastics each year; 3,500 tonnes of food organics; 100,000 tonnes of end of life tyres; 100,000 tonnes of timber; and reduce landfilling by over 200,000 tonnes each year.

The projects will improve the collection and processing of priority recycled materials, create jobs and improve resource recovery by leveraging private and local government investment in the waste sector.

Round 2 of the Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund will open later this year.

For more information, visit www.sustainability.vic.gov.au