DANDENONG’S Corex Plastics Australia was a finalist for the Large Manufacturer of the Year.
It was established in 1985 and is now the country’s largest manufacturer of hollow profile and solid polypropylene and HDPE sheet products, and the number one manufacturer of twin wall profile fluteboard sheet.
Corex struggled in recent years under the weight of a rising Australian dollar, increasing oil prices, and the Carbon Tax “which our overseas competitors didn’t have”.
“All those things together – I would not have dreamt of that in any business scenario,” managing director Simon Whiteley said.
“It allowed us to focus on what was important – what do our customers value.”
And thinking green was high on the list.
Corex recycles up to 20 tonnes of plastic each day, and its new products have about 50 per cent recycled content.
Mr Whiteley said recycling technology improvements that started eight years ago had cut energy use by 80 per cent and reduced the product’s carbon footprint.
“Plastics tend to get a bad rap – that they’re bad for the environment, and everyone thinks of shopping bags,” he said.
“It’s more recyclable than cardboard.
“The reality for us is that we want to recycle the material and put it back, ideally, into the application it came from or, if not, something similar.
“We want to know where it ends up. We want to divert stuff away from landfill and back into the plant.
“At any one time the incoming goods equals what goes out in terms of truck movements per day.
“We even recycle our competitor’s products. No one’s fully integrated like we are.”
