The workers at McCallum Disability Services are busy with a new project - helping create new roads out of recycled plastics.
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The collaboration between Wendouree recycler Danbar Plastics, which converts plastic waste into a steel replacement product called eMesh, and McCallum is keeping more than 70 people employed at the Sturt Street facility, packing the product for distribution.
eMesh, a product by Enviromesh - formerly Fibercon - is being used by the state government in several major projects, including level crossing removals and freeway works, as part of its Recycled First initiative.
According to the company, eMesh cuts down tonnes of landfill waste, produces minimal emissions compared to traditional steel concrete reinforcement, will last for 100 years, and can be recycled far more easily .
Acting Premier Jacinta Allan visited the Sturt Street site on Friday morning, noting it was a "terrific example" of government policy settings adding extra value to big projects.
"What this means for Ballarat is job opportunities, the product is manufactured here by Danbar and brought here for packaging before it heads out for road and rail projects," she said.
Enviromesh managing director Alex Lester said demand was booming.
"We're hoping to increase production this year by 100 per cent, Danbar Plastics is putting in a new line, which should be ready for us by the end of the year," he said.
"Using eMesh - it's not only 100 per cent recycled fibre but a 90 per cent emissions reduction, and a 40 per cent reduction in cost. It's been tested (to last) about 100 years, and it's recyclable at the end of life, after that 100 years, it's easier to manage.
"If you can imagine traditional steel reinforced concrete, if that's taken to a recycler, it has to be pulverised to get the steel out and then the concrete has to be crushed, but if you're using eMesh, all you have to do is crush the concrete and the put the fibre and the concrete and recycle both."
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