Latest News
New Donald Stabling Yards
500+ Duratrack sleepers installed
The new stabling yards at Donald, Western Victoria are part of the Murray Basin Rail Project and were built by Coleman Rail for V/Line. More than 500 Duratrack sleepers were installed in the yard that will provide improved operations for freight trains and wagons to be stored when not in use. Approximately 35 tonnes of recycled plastics were used to create the Duratrack sleepers installed at Donald, an initiative of the Recycled First policy for Victoria’s Big Build. >> Victoria’s Big Build Murray Basin Rail Project
Railway research leader marks 50th anniversary
Fifty years of solutions-orientated research
Over the past five decades, IRT’s researchers have collaborated and worked with over 160 national and global industry partners to deliver solutions-oriented research >> Monash University News
Happiness is a railway sleeper that’s hungry for waste plastic!
Duratrack Production Line: Integrated Recycling Mildura Factory
The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change toured our Mildura factory with GM Stephen Webster who illustrated how large scale infrastructure products like Duratrack are driving the use of waste plastic in Australia’s circular economy >> Press Release
Using more recycled materials to build our cities
Mahdi Miri Disfani mahdi.miri@unimelb.edu.au
A promising emerging technology from Mildura-based Integrated Recycling, tested by University of Melbourne experts, could be used to build very large structures like noise barriers, helping to keep hundreds of tonnes of plastics out of the ground. >> Melbourne University Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology article
Our kerbside rubbish to be recycled to make Melbourne’s tram stops
ABC Vic Country Hour / By Kellie Hollingworth
Monash University’s Institute of Railway Technology has received $300,000 in Victorian government funding to conduct the research in partnership with Yarra Trams, Integrated Recycling and Advanced Circular Polymer. “The modular design can be easily installed without a significant disruption to traffic. So, that is the main purpose of this, to construct quickly, effectively and efficiently at low cost” >> ABC News article
Recycled plastic is the next frontier of chemistry…
Celebrating Australian Made
Recycled plastic is the next frontier of chemistry and material science and a burgeoning field for those willing to lead into the future.” In the final day of Australian Made Week, @aumanufacturing published an article about how Integrated Recycling is making inroads in the tough field of recycled plastic products.
Celebrating Australian Made: Recycled plastics new frontier for innovation >> Read More
Minister tours Mildura factory
National Waste Policy Action Plan
Whether Australia stands knee deep in waste plastic in 2030 will be determined by the success of the National Waste Policy Action Plan. So, we were thrilled to welcome the Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster, and CEO Pro-Pac Packaging Group Tim Welsh to our Mildura factory last week.
“It was a privilege to present to such an influential group” said Stephen Webster GM Integrated Recycling…” >> Press Release
Above: L-R Tim Welsh CEO Pro-Pac Packaging Group, Sussan Ley Federal Minister for the Environment, Dr Anne Webster Member for Mallee, with Stephen Webster GM Integrated Recycling conducting a tour of the Mildura factory.
$2Trillion circular economy boost
By Noel Towell, March 23, 2021
The Australian economy could enjoy a boost worth nearly $2 trillion in the next 20 years if the nation abandons its “take, make, use, waste” approach to materials and resources.
The Age story focusses on the PwC report about the huge economic benefit to Australia if the nation embraces circular economy products. Stephen Webster, General Manager IR, says Integrated Recycling leads the way turning plastics that have served their primary purpose into an innovative second life range of products. >> The Age article
Above: Integrated Recycling’s GM Stephen Webster on platform 2 at Richmond station.
Duratrack® Railway Sleepers Provide Durable Alternative
By Dona Cayetana, 7 August 2020: Agriculture, Featured, Natural Resources
On the road to creating a circular economy, reusing plastic waste is a top priority for innovation. Integrated Recycling has created one solution by turning plastics from Mildura farmers into Duratrack railway sleepers >> Read More
Noise wall: Funding boost to close the loop on recycling
Click to Read Media Release
A Sustainable Alternative to Timber?
With China banning the importation of recyclable materials in 2017, the issue of what Australia should do with its waste has grown more and more urgent. A new initiative, back by research funded by Sustainability Victoria, proposes one innovative solution: creating railway sleepers out of recycled plastics. >> Ausrail article
Integrated Recycling’s Featured in the November Edition of Infrastructure Magazine
Integrated Recycling’s Duratrack® wins WARR Award
We were thrilled to be the 2019 winner at the WARR awards (Waste and Resource Recovery Awards). Integrated Recycling General Manager Stephen Webster attended the awards at Sydney’s Australian National Maritime Museum. It was a brilliant evening and demonstrated the industry’s motivation and capabilities of using Australia’s waste as a resource. The Bingo Innovation Award Finalists (WARR Awards) were Integrated Recycling, Coca-Cola Amatil, Alex Fraser Group.
This is a huge team effort where every member of Integrated Recycling and our partners played their part.
Integrated Recycling’s GM Stephen Webster (middle) with Russell Trevaskis, RST Railway Engineering (right) being presented the Bingo Innovation Award at WARR.
Fantastic plastic on track
BY ALESHA CAPONE JULY 30, 2019
More than 100 railway track sleepers made from recycled plastic are being installed at the Wyndham Vale train-stabling yard.
In a first for the V/Line network, the sleepers will become part of stabling tracks for storage of VLocity trains. >> Read Star Weekly article
CESAR MELHEM AND WORKERS INSPECT THE NEW TRACKS IN WYNDHAM VALE.
“Full Steam Ahead For Recycled Plastic Railway Sleepers!”
7NEWS @Richmond station: “Trains travelling through Richmond Station will now be running on railway sleepers made from recycled plastic as part of the Andrews Labor Government’s war on waste.
200 sleepers are being installed as part of an 18-month trial.
Produced in Mildura by Integrated Recycling, the Duratrack sleepers are made from a mix of polystyrene and agricultural waste, including cotton bale wrap and vineyard covers all sourced in Australia.
The recycled sleepers have a potential lifespan of up to 50 years, are half the cost of traditional timber sleepers and require far less maintenance.
The Labor Government has invested $630,000 through grant programs delivered by Sustainability Victoria to make the project a reality.
For every kilometre of track installed, 64 tonnes of plastic waste that would otherwise have gone to landfill will be recycled.
The ground-breaking product is the result of more than four years of research and product development led by Integrated Recycling and Monash University.”
IR: It’s taken 5 robust years to be an overnight success! Duratrack recycled plastic railway sleepers have progressed through 3 generations of rigorous testing. Being brutal in our development is why the Duratrack sleeper now has type approval for mainline railways Metro Trains Melbourne and Queensland Rail.
These are the first steps of a long and passionate journey.
7 News – Richmond Station
Take a look behind the scenes
Duratrack recycled plastic railway sleepers being tested by QR on mainline
Andrew Rose, Track & Signal, 26 February 2019
Integrated Recycling’s general manager Stephen Webster said 150 sleepers were installed at two QR mainline locations in October and November 2018.
The Duratrack composite recycled plastic sleeper is composed of a mix of flexible and rigid plastics such as agricultural film, polystyrene, pipes, drums and bottles >> Read More
QR mainline trial for Duratrack sleepers
Queensland Rail awarded Type Approval to the Duratrack composite recycled plastic railway sleeper. QR will install 150 sleepers at two different mainline locations. The first 75 sleepers were installed between Helidon and Gatton in the Lockyer Valley, near Toowoomba during a line closure in October. The installation went smoothly utilising existing tooling and equipment.
The next 75 sleepers will be installed in November between Chinchilla and Miles in the Western Downs Region about 200 kms west of Toowoomba. The trial will be conducted and monitored in accordance with the QR test plan and will run for approximately 12-18 months.
Duratrack Railway Sleepers receive $200k grant for further research from Sustainability Victoria
Steve Dimopoulos MP, represented Minister Lily D’Ambrosio MP to announce a $200k grant to support further research by the Institute of Railway Technology (IRT), Monash University.
The research will collect and analyse real time and real load data of the Duratrack sleepers performance in mainline railways. This research work will further validate the initial research also funded by Sustainability Victoria to commercialise the use of flexible plastics in railway sleepers, which facilitated the type approval for trials of the Duratrack sleeper by Queensland Rail and Metro Trains Melbourne. These research projects highlight the important collaboration between the Victorian Government, Monash University and Integrated Recycling.
The announcement was well attended and special thanks go to Ravi Ravitharan (Director at IRT), Elizabeth Croft (Dean of Engineering), John Scaife (Design Principal at Interface Rail Engineering), Graham Tew (Research Manager at Monash University), Russell Trevaskis (General Manager at RST Railway Engineering), Connie Glover (Administrative Manager at IRT), John Cerini (CEO at Integrated Packaging), Karl Shanley and Sustainability Victoria.
Sustainability Victoria – Case Study
Recycled plastic railway sleepers are used across the world, however they are not commonly used in Australia.
A research project was conducted to assess the use of recycled exible plastic in the formulation of an Australian made recycled plastic sleeper >> SV Case Study
Mildura Council and Integrated Recycling to tackle local waste plastic
John Dooley, Mildura Weekly, 29 June 2018
The Mildura Rural City Council and IR are in discussion about options to process local plastic waste. Since the Chinese stopped taking plastic waste earlier this year, local recycling has become a pressing issue >> Read Mildura Weekly article
Infrastructure grant for Integrated Recycling
John Dooley, Mildura Weekly, 22 June 2018
IR has received and injection of funds from a State grant. The grant money will be used to: improve IR’s production line capacity; to upgrade the raw material storage area; and to improve the preparation process of recycled plastic >> Read Mildura Weekly article
War on waste: Railway sleepers made from recycled plastic could replace timber on heritage tracks.
ABC Mildura/Swan Hill, Kelly Hollingworth & Emma Brown, 15 May 2017
Currently many heritage railways rely on second hand timber sleepers, but now testing is under way to see if plastic is a viable alternative.
Recycled plastic sleepers have a 50 year lifespan which is over three times longer than timber sleepers >> Read ABC article
Could recycled plastic be a viable alternative for timber railway sleepers?
By Jan Arreza, 13 June 2017
Recycled plastic railway sleepers made in northwest Victoria could be the next weapon in the war against waste, as testing is currently underway to verify whether using converted polystyrene and agricultural plastic waste can be used as an alternative material for sleepers on heritage railways >> Read Inside Waste article
Australian recycler on track for big railroad tie contract
Plastics News, Kate Tilley, 2 August 2017
After successfully testing composite railroad ties made from recycled plastics, an Australian company is embarking on an ambitious bid to win major business with Queensland Rail >> Read Plastic News article
