How appropriate is it that worn-out and discarded vine covers in the Sunraysia wine region are recycled in Mildura into products, including sleepers for the Murray Basin Rail Project?
With the help of Mildura-based Integrated Recycling (IR), not only is the project promoting sustainability and the circular economy, it’s doing so at a local level.
Old vine covers are just one of the ingredients in IR’s well-guarded recipe that includes polystyrene packaging, other plastic waste and wood fibre, and a few secret ingredients. But recycled plastic waste accounts for 85% of the mix. Besides vine covers, waste plastic sources include pallet wraps and irrigation pipes. Integrated Recycling is a subsidiary of Propac Packaging, making the production process truly circular, with the recycler collecting waste from its parent company’s customers.
The atomised material is moulded into a range of durable and weatherproof products, including railway sleepers, bollards, picnic tables, posts and noise barrier walls. Local councils and schools are among IR’s customers. As well, the moisture resistance of recycled plastic products, including resistance to seawater, makes them attractive for marine and boating applications such as canoe platforms, pontoons, boardwalks, jetties and oyster farm infrastructure.
Integrated Recycling’s plastic sleepers have been tested by the Institute of Railway Technology (IRT) at Monash University – formerly BHP’s Rail Division – and have a design life of 50 years. With hardwood timber for sleepers becoming scarcer and concrete highly emissions-intensive, plastic sleepers are set to grow in popularity among railways globally.
Following IRT’s endorsement, recycled plastic railway sleepers are now finding their way into the Melbourne metro network, helped by a landmark application at Richmond Station that was featured on TV news. The lighter weight and shallow ballast depth requirement of plastic sleepers made them an attractive option for the Punt Road rail bridge at the busy inner-city station.
V/Line has type-approved recycled plastic sleepers for slow-speed applications, such as sidings and stabling yards. High-speed trials of plastic sleepers are currently underway.
Although building products are also a potential application for recycled plastic, Integrated Recycling’s Managing Director, Stephen Webster, says the company is focusing on infrastructure. “My aim is to make a lasting impression in the circular economy, and I see infrastructure as changing the dial.”
The Murray Basin Rail Project has used 510 plastic sleepers in the newly completed Donald siding road and will use around 300 in the Merbein siding extension soon to be launched.