Step 01 · Intake
Raw materials in
Baled kerbside plastics are delivered and fed onto the infeed belt and shredder.
A first for Australia · Est. 2013
Turning everyday recycling into new material.
From Narrabri in North-West NSW, we run the first plant of its kind in Australia — and the first of its kind in rural Australia. Every day we sort and process over two million bottles into clean PET and HDPE flake, ready to be made into something new.
2M+
Bottles processed every day
40%
PET in every load
40%
HDPE in every load
1st
Plant of its kind in Australia
16
Steps from bale to clean flake
2013
Established in Narrabri, NSW
Who we are
A family-built plant with a purpose beyond plastic.
Australian Recycled Plastics Pty Ltd was incorporated in 2013 by Dale and Helen Smith, with the purpose of building a plastic recycling plant in North-West NSW, Narrabri. Apart from the mining sector, our regional community had seen no significant diversification of industry.
Dale and Helen recognised the need to establish new industry, and saw an opportunity to be proactive — introducing an environmentally friendly manufacturing process that is a front-runner in providing a sustainable, stable business that is drought and flood proof, whilst creating longevity for employment and, in turn, spending in the local and broader community.
Read our story
The feedstock
What is PET?
PET is the clear, lightweight plastic your drink and water bottles are made from — the kerbside-collected material that most Australians put out each week. It arrives baled and mixed, and we sort and process it into clean, re-usable flake. Very few plants in the world can process PET and HDPE at the same time. Ours is one of them.
PET
Polyethylene terephthalate — the clear plastic used for water and soft-drink bottles. It is strong, light and can be recycled back into new bottles and polyester fibre.
PET Colour
The same plastic as clear PET, but tinted — think green and blue bottles. It is sorted away from the clear stream because the colour carries through into whatever it becomes next.
HDPE Colour
Coloured high-density polyethylene — the tough plastic behind detergent bottles, shampoo bottles and rigid household containers. It is recycled into pipe, crates and non-food packaging.
HDPE Natural
Uncoloured HDPE, the milky-white plastic used for milk bottles. Because it has no dye in it, it is the most valuable HDPE grade and can be made into almost anything.
♻ Reduces landfill
🌱 Environmentally sustainable
🚜 Drought-proofing a rural community
Inside the plant
One continuous line, sixteen precise steps.
Raw materials arrive, and leave as clean PET and HDPE flake — sorted by magnets, eddy currents, ballistic separators, colour sorters, hot-wash and sink-floats along the way.
Step 11 · Separate
HDPE floats, PET sinks
Magnets, eddy currents and sink-floats split the stream into pure material types.
Step 16 · Out
Clean flake out
Dried, colour-sorted flake is bagged and loaded, ready for re-manufacture.
What we produce
Recycled flake, ready to be re-made.
Our end product can be repurposed by many other industries. Here is a taste of what leaves the plant.
PET Flake
10 mm cut size, colour-sorted and dried.
HDPE Flake
Clear (8 mm) and coloured (12 mm) grades.
PET Colour Flake
Tinted PET flake, colour-sorted — plus PET and PET/HDPE fines.
In pictures
Life at the plant.
Our site at Narrabri, the production line in motion, and the local team that makes it run.
★ Recognised innovation
2016 Northern Inland Innovation Awards — Manufacturing Category Finalist.
Part of the Smith Group of Companies, working alongside our sister company Namoi Logistics.
Get in touch
Buying flake, selling bales, or looking for work?
We’d love to hear from you. Reach the team at Narrabri directly.