Biloela's Raedon St Industrial Estate will soon be home to an Australian-first rubber recycling plant.

The processing plant, being constructed and operated by Novum Energy Australia, will reclaim carbon from heavy duty tyres and conveyor belt, along with oil, syngas and waste steel.

Banana Shire Mayor Nev Ferrier said this was an exciting development for the community and for Novum Energy Australia.

“It ticks all the boxes - it is great for the environment, because it eliminates heavy duty tyres from being disposed in landfills and creates renewable energy sources and other high-quality by-products.

“It is also good for the local economy through job creation and could create a catalyst for the attraction of other industries to the Raedon St Industrial Estate.

“When I was advised of the volume of material that this process can extract from these disused tyres I was astounded.

“Who would have thought you could generate 2,500 litres of oil from five tonne of old rubber.”

Novum Energy Australia executive director Rowan Kendall said Novum would start stockpiling tyres at the site in the near future and expected to start construction of the plant in the third quarter of 2020.

“After successfully establishing a supply contract for waste rubber, we are working to a 12 month timeframe from when we start construction to when we commence processing the rubber,” Mr Kendall said.

“Our target is to process 7,500 tonnes of rubber per annum, which will produce 4 million litres of oil, 2,000 tonne of recycled carbon black, 1,000 tonnes of waste steel and syngas which can be used for electricity generation.”

Mr Kendall said once fully operational the processing plant would employ between 11-15 full-time employees.

Novum Energy Australia uses thermo vacuum recovery technology to convert rubber to energy and high-quality by-products. The recovery process is highly energy effective and produces very low emissions.

The by-products include fuel oil, syngas, steel and carbon black, products which are used by mining and metal refinery facilities in their processing operations.

The Raedon St Industrial Estate was opened by Banana Shire Council to provide suitable land, close to established transport corridors, water and power infrastructure for small to medium sized industries.

The 40 block estate was developed in stages with eleven blocks already sold and one under negotiation. Council is currently developing Stage 3 which consists of six lots with a total land area of 5.4ha.