Australia’s Toowoomba tires-to-fuels plant in jeopardy after Govt no-no’s $5M grant

In Australia, Green Distillation Technologies is advising that a decision by the Queensland Government to not support a Resource Recovery Grant for the proposed Toowoomba tyre recycling plant has placed the project in jeopardy. “The tyre recycling plant was planned to be built at the Wellcamp Business Park based on our world-first Australian technology that turns end of life tyres into oil, carbon and steel,” said company CEO Trevor Bayley. “The oil obtained from recycling end of life tyres will go to the newly built Northern Oil refinery at Gladstone, North Queensland where the Queensland Government plans to create a renewable fuels hub.

“We had applied for a $5 million grant to pay 50 per cent of the estimated construction cost and the decision not to contribute has meant that we have to either find the money from private investment, or re-evaluate the project and focus our attention elsewhere “It may be that the people of Toowoomba will step up to the plate and support the facility as we were putting up $5 million of the capital required.

“That plant would have employed 14 to 18 people full time, as well as local contractors during the construction phase and create further jobs in the transport maintenance and collection of end of life tyres from retailers and other outlets,” Bayley said, “this depends on the investment support we receive in Australia to try and get those processing plants up and running, providing local employment and solving a major environmental problem.