Capire’s engagement program built community understanding of an advanced chemical recycling facility and developed options to mitigate their concerns.

 

Soft Plastics Recycling in Altona

 
 

Licella is a global leader of advanced recycling and is currently developing a proposal for an advanced chemical recycling facility in Altona. Their CAT-HTR technology for plastics recycling is a more sustainable option to traditional mechanical soft plastics recycling.

Altona has had several waste and chemical businesses in the past, some of which involved environmental hazards. Considering this, Capire understood the community would be concerned about a new site and it was important to gain feedback from them and mitigate issues.

Capire designed and delivered an extensive, diverse community and stakeholder engagement program to:

  • build community and stakeholder understanding of the Cat-HTR™ technology, advanced recycling and how this contributes to a circular economy
  • develop trust in Licella and their partners
  • identify community and stakeholder concerns early in the development of the proposal
  • engage with key stakeholders to develop a baseline of what issues need to be addressed in the Development Licence application process
  • work with key stakeholders to develop options which mitigate community concerns and issues to the greatest extent possible.
 
  • Client
    Licella
  • Year Completed
    2022
  • Location
    Altona
  • Case Study
    Download
 

Capire really knew what they were doing. Importantly, they did what they said they were going to do and achieved the perfect result for us. The unique thing Capire brings is a team small enough to be flexible, but large enough to offer us a full service.

-
Steve Rogers, Project Director

The engagement program was stepped out into two phases:

Phase 1: foundational engagement. This included a desktop study, interviews with environmental advocacy groups and community networks to identify type of issues community are concerned with and their preferred approach to being consulted.

Phase 2: community presentations and focus group sessions. This was to understand specific community concerns of the proposal and determine satisfactory mitigation strategies. Capire selected the broadest possible range of community groups to engage on the project. Local community networks were selected based on their connections to the local community in Altona, their broad and diverse reach across communities and specific interest.

Licella incorporated the community feedback into their development proposal. Essentially, community influenced the design and operation of the proposal, ensuring smooth regulatory process. Education and ongoing community engagement will be essential throughout all subsequent stages of this project so that community is informed and up to date with the progress and the impact on community.