Centre a glass above

Proposed recycling operation awaiting green light

A GAME-CHANGING recycling super centre to locally repurpose glass and construction material will be the first of its kind in the Far North if granted the go-ahead by Cairns Regional Council.

Bugeja Recycling has plans to construct a glass imploder plant that will crush glass into a crystalline form to be used as an asphalt medium and an alternative to sand in concrete.

The plant, proposed for a 7688sq m site at Hargreaves and Vickers streets at Edmonton, will be completed in two stages and will include a weighbridge, conference room and office.

Bugeja Recycling owner Peter Bugeja said the proposed plant had the potential to be a major boost to the Cairns economy.

“For a starter, there will be 30 or 40 blokes needed to build it, and then just to run the operation, there will be 20 permanent jobs,” he said.

“But if we don’t get the material change of use, we will fold that side of the project. We are really depending on the council decision.”

Having already invested $2.5 million in the project, Mr Bugeja was confident plans for the site ticked all the boxes required for council approval.

He said the plant would be the first in Cairns to process construction waste on the scale planned.

“It will be a game-changer in the recycling of a lot of products. At the moment, the council is sending all their glass to Brisbane,” he said.

“I have got markets that I am refining to turn that glass into sand blasting material so we can process it here locally

“We supply to the construction industry with a lot of the material that we make and we just need to get the support of council to go through with the rest of the project.

“It will just save so much money instead of sending it all to landfill.”

Committed to educating future generations about the benefits of resource recycling, the proposed Edmonton plant will offer tours of the facility, school classroom training sessions and will develop animated videos on how construction and demolition waste can avoid landfill, according to the application.

“We are reusing raw materials instead of transporting it from far away. All our fine sand comes from the Tablelands but we are going to run out shortly,” Mr Bugeja said.