Ecoloop diverts 309 tonnes of cladding from landfill

After a year in operation, Lithgow-based recycling facility Ecoloop has published data on the recycling of combustible cladding at its custom-built materials recovery factory in regional NSW, with the impressive topline that it has diverted 309 tonnes of cladding rectification waste away from landfill projects in NSW, VIC and the ACT.

The Ecoloop recycled cladding plant – the first company to process problematic ACP material – was also able to offset 2.254 tonnes of carbon dioxide via its cladding recycling process, which will repurpose any brand of at-risk or unsafe combustible cladding. Ecoloop is owned and operated by façade cladding specialists, Fairview.

Another key statistic discovered was that Ecoloop was able to divert a full 100% of received materials away from landfill destinations of all the ACP cladding collected from a number of leading cladding brands and products. While the facility only opened in January 2021, the report just published shows the valuable and encouraging results that were attained in the premises’ first full year of waste recovery.

“While our report on recovery and recycling of problematic cladding material is positive, the programme is only beginning. The data applies to products we were invited to rescue from just three of the Eastern seaboard states. If more states, especially Queensland, and brands come on-board, our contribution to sustainable recycling of cladding will only grow,” says Melissa Herrmann, Industry Engagement Manager, Fairview.

Ecoloop is the fifth organisation to be fully accredited under the Australian Government Voluntary Product Stewardship Scheme, for its commitment to ensuring combustible cladding components are given new life and made more sustainably sound. Sustainability is becoming an important part of product recycling and remediation projects for governments and private developers alike, which makes Ecoloop a very timely initiative.

“Our Ecoloop Life Cycle Analysis calculated the environmental benefits of recycling cladding waste for builders, government agencies and anyone in the building supply chain. The data shows that 58.3kgs of carbon are offset for every m² recycled through Ecoloop. Imagine the results if every state had a Project Remediate style initiative and if every brand of cladding sent their dangerous materials to Ecoloop for repurposing…the sustainability boost for the entire construction sector would be massive,” says Herrmann.

After one full year of cladding waste recycling and repurposing, the $1.6million Ecoloop facility is showing that the processing of ‘noncompliant’ cladding waste from facade rectification projects can produce tangible benefits and results.

As more initiatives and agencies – including Project Remediate and the Safer Building Taskforce – show government backing for recycling projects, the Ecoloop facility in the Central Tablelands town of Lithgow provides reassurance to the construction sector that they can play their part in boosting materials recovery and recycling.