Twenty-Eight Tonnes of Polystyrene Rescued from Landfill

Twenty-Eight Tonnes of Polystyrene Rescued from Landfill

Sydney Fish Market has introduced waste management technology that will dramatically reduce the site’s landfill contribution by recycling polystyrene box waste into reusable plastic material.

Following an incredibly successful six-month trial, in which 28 tonnes of polystyrene was recycled, the specialist recycling machine has become a permanent fixture at Sydney Fish Market.

Sydney Fish Market General Manager Bryan Skepper says, “Over 100,000 polystyrene boxes will be recycled at Sydney Fish Market every year under this new initiative. That’s enough to fill 150 20-foot shipping containers”. 

The machine transforms the polystyrene boxes by heating and compressing them into small blocks that can be re-sold and manufactured into a variety of plastic products such as stationary items, plant pots and coat hangers.

Sydney Fish Market purchased the equipment using a grant of more than $54,000 from the NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Australian Packaging Covenant which recognised the Market’s commitment to upgrading its waste management procedures.

The initiative is part of a wider waste management plan that Sydney Fish Market has devised, in partnership with waste management specialists Resource Environmental Solutions, to help the company reach its environmental sustainability goals.

Over the next two year further recycling equipment will be introduced to Sydney Fish Market with the intention that within three years 40 per cent of all waste from the market will be recycled.

ENDS

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