Viva Energy’s successful processing of waste plastics into usable oil represents a pivotal step for Australia’s emerging plastic-to-fuel recycling economy.

Viva Energy is pleased to announce that this week, it successfully processed more than 9.5 tonnes of plastic pyrolysis oil (PPO) at its Geelong refinery, demonstrating the facility’s suitability for establishing a large-scale waste plastic facility in Australia. 

This marks a significant step forward in Viva Energy’s plans to establish a waste plastic recycling facility in collaboration with Cleanaway. With its national collection and processing footprint, Cleanaway has been exploring options for collecting and sorting used plastic.

This week’s trial demonstrated that Viva Energy can process large volumes of PPO – a critical step in establishing a national solution for Australia’s waste plastic problem.

While Viva Energy has processed small volumes of PPO in the past, this volume allowed for the testing of both the Geelong Refinery’s infrastructure capability and the downstream product-quality impacts. The PPO processed in Geelong was made from waste plastic in Akron, Ohio, in the USA, by Alterra, a leading developer of plastic recycling technology. Viva Energy obtained approval to import this quantity of PPO, allowing the demonstration to proceed, reflecting the type of PPO volumes that will be produced from the future Advanced Recycling project.

The focus of the trial was on whether contaminants would impact either the design of the joint venture facility or the Geelong Refinery’s ability to process PPO volumes at scale. The learnings from this trial will inform new packaging design standards, maximizing the volumes of soft plastics that can be processed through advanced recycling technologies. 

Viva Energy and Cleanaway are continuing a comprehensive feasibility study into the plastic recycling project, with the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase expected to commence in 2026, once details of the Australian Government’s packaging reform have been finalized.

Bill Patterson, Viva Energy’s Executive General Manager – Refining, said it was exciting to see a new future emerge for the refinery. “Over many decades, our facility has played a crucial role in preserving our sovereign manufacturing capability and keeping the country moving,” Mr. Patterson said. “We will continue to manufacture the fuels essential for our standard of living, but we will now play an additional critical role in establishing a circular economy and helping to address Australia’s waste plastic issue.”

Valerio Coppini, Alterra’s Chief Commercial Officer, stated that Alterra’s thermochemical liquefaction process technology would be crucial in efforts to recycle discarded plastic back into its original building blocks.

“The Alterra technology has proven the ability to add value to end-of-life, post-consumer plastics by successfully converting them into feedstock for chemicals and new plastic production,” Mr Coppini said. “Following the successful trial at the Geelong Refinery, we are looking forward to growing together with Viva Energy and Cleanaway in Australia to divert discarded plastics from landfill, displace virgin, fossil-derived material, and reduce GHG emissions.”

Media Enquiries:

Michael Cave
T: +61 409 647 910
E: michael.cave@vivaenergy.com.au

About Viva Energy

Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) is a leading convenience retailer, commercial services, and energy infrastructure business with a history spanning over 120 years in Australia. The Group operates a convenience and fuel network of almost 900 stores across Australia and supplies fuels and lubricants to a total network of nearly 1,500 service stations.

Viva Energy owns and operates the strategically located Geelong Refinery in Victoria, and supports a range of businesses, including bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals, polymers, and lubricants, through more than 20 terminals and approximately 80 airports and airfields across the country. www.vivaenergy.com.au

About Alterra

Alterra is the developer, operator, and licensor of its thermochemical liquefaction process technology, which renews discarded plastic back into its original building blocks, thereby minimizing reliance on new, fossil-derived feedstock for the manufacturing of new plastic products. Our commercially operational plastics circularity facility in Akron, OH, leverages our unique fully continuous technology to process post-consumer plastic content daily. By deploying our technology, we are Solving Plastic Pollution® through Infinitely Renewed Plastics™.

Learn more:

• Plastic Pyrolysis in the Philippines
• Klean Plastic Recycling Technology
• Viva + Klean Strategic Partnership
• Recovered Plastic Oil Upgrading

From Waste Plastic to Clean Oil – Australia’s Circular Economy Takes Flight

Viva Energy’s successful production of oil from waste plastics shows how chemical recycling and pyrolysis are the future of sustainable fuels. As a technology leader in this space, Klean Industries offers turnkey pyrolysis systems for converting plastics into circular commodities, such as synthetic oil, fuels, and monomers.

Ready to scale Australia’s clean energy transition?

Whether you’re looking to build new plastic pyrolysis infrastructure or upgrade existing waste processing facilities, Klean delivers patented, bankable solutions for producing circular fuel and feedstock.

Connect with our engineering team to start your advanced plastic recycling journey in Australia or globally » GO.