CAWRA Material Recovery Facility

Pascale Construction was engaged by CAWRA, a JV between the Local Governments of City of Charles Sturt and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, as the Design & Construct head contractor for their new state of the art Material Recovery Facility (MRF) located in Kilburn. The facility is capable of processing up to 50,000 tonnes of recyclables per year, equivalent to 5000 trucks worth of household yellow bin material.

Our brief was to design and construct a facility that would meet the target volumes and outputs required to ensure that our client could deliver on their commitment that SA’s recyclables are processed here in SA, in a commercially viable enterprise, and in turn contributing and growing the circular economy. Our obligation included the design and integration of the specialist material sorting and processing equipment, components of which had to be sourced from the US and Europe, which was then fabricated and assembled here in Australia. Pascale Construction engaged a third party specialist contractor for this work, which we coordinated and managed to ensure that the building infrastructure provided worked hand in hand with the equipment to allow the project deliverables to be met. Importantly, vehicle movements and flow of material in and out of the facility was carefully considered to ensure maximum efficiency was achieved so the yearly target volumes could be met.

Set on 10,000m2 of council owned land in Kilburn, which had once been used as a landfill rubbish tip, the existing condition of the ground was unsuitable for construction. Rather than excavating, removing and reinstating the bad ground, we engaged with Geotech Engineers and found a cost effective solution to impact roll the site. This, coupled with a specialized footing design, meant we were able to bring the site up to a standard suitable for building works.

Construction of the 4000m2 facility, which included a 2 storey office, incorporated specifically designed pits and concrete push walls required for the equipment, as well as concrete wearing surfaces and design to ensure longevity. An education space was also included as well pedestrian catwalks to provide students the opportunity to visit the facility to learn about recycling.