This year, Sustainability Victoria is marking two decades as the state’s lead agency for accelerating sustainability and cutting waste and emissions.
Since its establishment in 2005, Sustainability Victoria has reshaped how Victorians think about resources and sustainable living – transforming policy into practice, supporting innovation across sectors, and delivering programs that have diverted millions of tonnes of waste from landfill.
“This is a celebration of what’s possible when government, industry and community work together,” says Chief Executive Officer Matt Genever.
“We’ve seen ideas become infrastructure, behaviour change become habit, and innovation become impact.”
One of the most compelling examples of this transformation is Reconophalt – Australia’s first asphalt additive made entirely from recycled materials.
In 2018, Sustainability Victoria invested in a groundbreaking trial of Reconophalt, a recycled asphalt product developed by Downer and Close the Loop, with support from Hume City Council. The trial was part of a broader effort to accelerate the commercialisation of recycled materials and build confidence in their performance as alternatives to virgin resources.
Each kilometre of the trial road used 200,000 recycled plastic bags, 63,000 recycled glass bottles, 4500 toner cartridges and 250 tonnes of reclaimed asphalt.
The trial, laid on Rayfield Avenue in Craigieburn, proved that recycled materials could meet VicRoads specifications and deliver superior performance. Reconophalt offers up to 65 per cent greater fatigue resistance than standard asphalt and better resistance to deformation under heavy traffic – while looking just like any other road surface.
“People expect to see pieces of plastic sticking out of the road,” says Stuart Billing, Downer’s Executive General Manager of Transport and Infrastructure. “However, it looks like any other asphalt, and that’s exactly what we like to see.”
From vision to impact
The journey began in 2015, when Steve Morriss, founder of Close the Loop, visited a demonstration road in Texas made with recycled toner. Inspired by its potential, Morriss returned to Australia with a vision: to recycle toner – what he called a “dirty black powder” – into a polymer for asphalt.
Despite initial industry resistance, Downer saw the potential and partnered with Close the Loop to develop the formula. With support from Sustainability Victoria, the trial was funded, proving the concept and paving the way for broader adoption. Today, Reconophalt roads have been laid across Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, including major upgrades such as the M80 and Monash Freeway.
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A legacy of innovation
Over 20 years, Sustainability Victoria has supported the use of more than three million tonnes of recycled material in infrastructure and helped unlock over $500 million in co-investment from the private sector and Australian Government.
“We’ve been an early mover, investing to validate recycled materials against performance standards. This has laid the foundation for the work of newer public sector agencies like Ecologiq, driving the Victorian Government’s Recycled First policy, which mandates that all major transport projects optimise the use of recycled and reused materials,” Genever says.
Reconophalt is just one of many innovations backed by Sustainability Victoria’s grant funding. Others in the roads and infrastructure sector include Mordialloc noise walls made from recycled materials, ROBOVOID concrete void formers, Porous Lane permeable pavement and the beer bottle road – a circular economy initiative using recycled glass.
“By rethinking waste, Sustainability Victoria has enabled recycled materials to be used in roads, buildings and benches. The collaboration between Close the Loop and Downer on Reconophalt is an example of how partnerships can bridge the gap between ambition and execution, from early ideas to real-world applications,” says Genever. “These collaborations don’t just validate performance, they build confidence, unlock investment, and create shared ownership of sustainability outcomes.”
And, support from government can be pivotal in getting even the most unconventional new ideas over the line, Steve Morriss, Founder of Close the Loop explains.
“Sustainability Victoria has helped with grant funding on numerous occasions and equipment as well. It’s helped give the whole project credibility. You know if the government sees fit to back a product, then it’s a valid technology. It gives our board the confidence to move forward.”
From recycling to circularity
Recycling – and finding new life for recycled materials – is just the beginning.
With this foundation in place, Victoria is increasingly turning its attention to a truly circular economy, where materials are kept in use for as long as possible and waste is designed out from the start. It’s not just about how we divert from landfill, but how we rethink value, innovation, and impact for generations to come.
Circular products like Reconophalt, with 100 per cent recyclability at end-of-life, enhanced performance, and no increased environmental risk, are an important step on this road to circularity.
Morriss reflected on the journey from that dusty road in Texas.
“It really is an Australian and Victorian success story,” he says. “With a lot of help along the way from Sustainability Victoria.”
This article was originally published in the November edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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