Govt seeks cashed-up partner for Hume recycling facility rebuild

Much of the old building was heavily damaged by fire and will need to be rebuilt, with an additional "secondary plant" to be constructed on adjoining land. Picture by Karleen Minney

The ACT government is on the search for a consortium partner to co-finance and operate its new recycling plant at Hume, with $21 million already guaranteed toward its construction by the Commonwealth and the territory.

The new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) would be required to have sufficient capacity to process 115,000 tonnes of mostly glass, cardboard, aluminium and plastics a year - more than double that of the previous facility which was destroyed in a massive blaze on Boxing Day last year, triggered by a thermal runaway from lithium-ion battery contamination.