ReSource Founder Troy Rowe Is Reshaping the Industry With Australia’s First Purpose-Built E-Waste Recycling Precinct
The e-waste industry has been rife with promises and short on execution, according to ReSource Founder Troy Rowe. He’s determined to tip the scales and is leading the charge of a new generation of environmentally conscious recyclers.
On a 15,000-square metre site in an industrial estate just 17 kilometres from Melbourne’sCentral Business District, Troy is building an innovative e-waste precinct, the likes of which have not been seen in Australia.
Stage one, a purpose-built battery and e-waste recycling facility, wascommissioned in May. Home to the Southern Hemisphere’s first installation of an X-ray sorter for batteries, the facility will produce a fertiliser-grade black mass output.
Sitting alongside it is some of the most advanced e-waste processing and separationequipment, designed for maximum recovery of all materials, right down to powder-size particles.
This one-stop E-waste shop in Derrimut has many Australian firsts regarding safety and environmental protections. These include activated carbon filter to capture harmful volatile organic compounds that are released when processing TEDs; installing multiple thermal-activated fire cannons; and being the first recycling facility globally, that he is aware of, to be energy negative – a $1 million solar system will produce more electricity than the facility consumes. While the precinct is Troy’s vision, and he’s executing the plan, he admits he’s notreinventing the wheel. The processes being introduced are drawn from best practices aroundthe world.
The remaining pieces of the puzzle involve solar panel recycling through sister company PVIndustries, introducing a refining line to the e-waste process, installing a plastics recyclingplant and tackling lithium-ion batteries.
It’s an ambitious goal that Troy has committed years and millions of dollars to achieve. He estimates he’s invested a little over $7 million to date. Total investment for thethe final precinct will be $12-$13 million.
“I’m all in,” Troy says. “It’s a very personal thing for me, given my background.” “Yes, it’s hard, but I can make an environmentally conscious business profitable. I want to prove that this can work.
“I believe I will; otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone as all-in as I have. The numbers tell me itmakes sense.” He says investment in new technology makes ReSource uniquely positioned toprocess TEDs in an environmentally friendly way that hasn’t occurred before in Australia.Within six months, he hopes to install a plastics recovery plant with a focus on polypropylene(PP) and polystyrene (PSv), to output quality base metal and single polymerplastics.With a 20-year lease, plus options, Troy says he’s here for the long term.“In 20 years, I can see 95 per cent recovery plus. That’s my ultimate goal,” he says. “For any e-waste that comes onto this site, we can provide transparent, honest processing, and we get 95 per cent plus processing recovery – that’s what I want to see. “That would be the absolute goal.”
For more information, visit: www.re-source.net.au
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Company Name: ReSource
Contact Person: Troy
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Address:70 Swann Drive Derrimut
City: Victoria
Country: Australia
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/resourceptyltd/
