Visy has unveiled a major $42.5 million upgrade to its paper recycling and remanufacturing campus in Coolaroo, Victoria, with Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek in attendance.

The upgrade is part of Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt’s commitment to invest $2 billion over the next decade to reduce landfill, cut emissions and create thousands of green collar Australian manufacturing jobs.

“This is a very important day for our company because we’re not only manufacturers,” Pratt said.

“We’re actually in the landfill avoidance business which is good for greenhouse gas reduction as well because as things decay in landfill, they produce methane gas which is 84 times worse for climate change than carbon dioxide.

“So recycling is an important weapon against climate change.”

Pratt said the Drum Pulper system was an Australian first and represented the most advanced paper recycling technology in the world.

It means that any piece of wastepaper that goes through a Victorian kerbside recycling bin now has the capacity to be recycled into new packaging in Victoria. It never has to be landfilled or exported.

“It will double Visy’s kerbside recycling capability in Victoria, diverting up to 180,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard annually from Victoria’s landfills or exports – the equivalent of approximately an extra 400 Olympic swimming pools,” Pratt mentioned.

The Drum Pulper was made possible by co-investment from the Victorian and Federal Governments.

Visy will recycle and remanufacture this kerbside paper and cardboard into 100 per cent recycled paper and corrugated packaging for pizza boxes, the agricultural sector and Victoria’s favourite food and beverage brands.

“We’ve truly closed the loop on paper and cardboard recycling. So put your used pizza box in the recycle bin and we’ll make another box out of it,” Pratt said.

This latest investment brings Visy’s total cumulative investment in Australia to more than $10 billion. The project also adds to Australia’s workforce with the employment of over 2,500 people in Victoria.

“We can’t make these changes without Government action, and I thank you for your foresight and dedication to practical environmental reforms,” Pratt said, to Andrews and Plibersek.