URBAN DEVELOPMENT
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: MRPV’S NEW RECYCLING PARTNERSHIP By Tess Macallan, Journalist, Infrastructure Magazine
Due to the rigorous nature of construction projects, work clothes and personal protective equipment (PPE) experience plenty of wear and tear and are often sent to landfill once considered unwearable. However, initiatives such as the recent partnership between Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV), Seymour Whyte and UPPAREL are enabling these assets to be recycled, creating new possibilities for discarded materials.
W
aste is a significant issue facing Australia, with the construction sector one of the largest wastegenerating industries in the country. As the number of infrastructure projects continues to rise, recycling work clothes and equipment is one way the industry can improve circularity and promote sustainable waste management. MRPV’s Pound Road West Upgrade team has joined forces with Victorian company UPPAREL to recycle used work clothes and PPE that would normally end up in landfill. Through a partnership between MRPV, its construction partner Seymour Whyte and UPPAREL, project workers are encouraged to hand in workwear and PPE they no longer use so UPPAREL can repurpose 100 per cent of the recoverable materials, with nothing sent to landfill. Major Road Projects Victoria Program Director, Marc Peterson, said, “We’re excited to team up with UPPAREL on an initiative where every member of the project team can play their part to reduce waste in the construction industry, while supporting local business.”
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June 2023 // Issue 27
AN INDUSTRY SHIFT The MRPV recycling initiative builds on the Victorian Government’s ecologiQ program, which is integrating recycled and reused content across Victoria’s $100 billion Big Build initiative and making the use of the green materials standard practice. One driving force behind this change is the Victorian Government’s Recycled First Policy, which came into effect in March 2020. Under the policy, all tenderers on Victorian major transport projects are required to demonstrate,
within their bid, how they will optimise the use of recycled and reused materials at the levels allowed under current standards and specifications. The Recycled First Policy allows for continuous improvements to transport standards, specifications, research and development, helps create new markets and develop greener, more sustainable transport infrastructure outcomes. Supported by ecologiQ, the policy has had a powerful impact resulting in commitments to use more than 3.3 million tonnes of recycled and reused
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