For over two decades, the plastics pipe industry has aimed to recycle the maximum amount of usable plastic pipe and other suitable materials into new plastic pipes through programs such as take-back schemes and providing collection facilities on manufacturing sites. As society moves its attention towards long-term sustainability and the growing focus of the Australian National Waste Policy and Action Plan this provided an opportunity for the plumbing industry to work collaboratively with industry associations, PVC pipe manufactures, PVC pipe distributors and end users to play a role in diverting off-cuts of plastic pipes from landfill and recycling them into new PVC pipes.

 

The Construction Plastics Recycling scheme was launched in November 2021 with the support of the Queensland Government with the aim to educate and change the perception of PVC plastic pipes, change end user behaviours, capture valuable and reliable data on waste generated during construction, with the goal of using the insights from the scheme to implement long-term sustainable solutions for the collection of PVC pipe and fitting off-cuts.

 

The presentation takes you on the journey the partners have taken from launching the scheme, insights, and learnings, along with the challenges and the key areas and the importance of education.  The scheme highlights the environmental commitments of not only the partners involved in the scheme but the industry as a whole and how this scheme is gaining momentum for further opportunities to implement similar schemes across Australia.