New facility turns plastic waste into low-carbon building materials

CRDC Australia (Center for Regenerative Design & Collaboration) has announced the opening of a state-of-the-art plastics recycling facility in Tottenham, Victoria, in partnership with the Australia and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP). Plastics that would otherwise go to landfill can now be repurposed into building materials at Australia’s first RESIN8 production facility.

The company says the opening marks a significant leap in Australia's efforts to tackle the plastic waste crisis, by transforming hard to recycle plastics into a valuable material for the construction industry.

RESIN8, a low-carbon hybrid mineral-polymer, is engineered for both structural and non-structural building applications. It meets and surpasses international ASTM standards, providing a sustainable alternative to conventional building materials. Unique to RESIN8 is CRDC’s proprietary, carbon-negative production process, which accepts all types of plastics (resins 1–7) — a significant advancement over traditional recycling methods that typically only handle resins 1 and 2.

Shane Ramsey, Managing Director of CRDC Australia, said officially opening the full-scale RESIN8 facility was a landmark in sustainable innovation.

“Following the US, Costa Rica and South Africa, we are proud to be the fourth global location hosting this groundbreaking technology,” he said. “Thanks to the partnership with ANZRP and the ongoing support of the Victorian Government, we now have a local solution to transform plastic waste into innovative, eco-friendly building solutions.”

ANZRP CEO Warren Overton said the facility launch was a pivotal moment for e-waste management in Australia.

“By converting difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into a valuable resource for the construction industry, we are not only addressing the environmental challenges of today but also paving the way for future innovations,” he said. “We take great pride in partnering with CRDC Global to introduce this innovative circular solution that effectively manages our members’ plastic waste.”

The RESIN8 facility will operate with an initial capacity of one tonne per hour, set to increase in the coming months. Its modular production lines allow for rapid scaling to meet the growing demand for sustainable building materials in Australia and beyond. The facility will also play a critical role in addressing the soft plastics recycling gap left by the collapse of REDcycle. The Soft Plastic Taskforce is already utilising the new RESIN8 facility to recycle household soft plastics collected as part of an initial trial across 12 Melbourne supermarkets.

Image: Shane Ramsey, Managing Director of CRDC Australia, with representatives from APR Kerbside. Image credit: CRDC Victoria.