Four New South Wales-based companies will share in $23 million in Commonwealth grants as part of the latest federal government Modern Manufacturing Initiative cash splash.
Grant recipients announced on Monday operate in the recycling, defence, pharmaceuticals and MedTech sectors. The grants come from the second round of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative’s Integration and Translation streams.
Of the $280 million available in this round, $248.5 million was announced last week. After the announcement on Monday, there is still $8.5 million to be announced before the federal election on Saturday. Applications for these rounds were open for only a month over the summer holiday period.
Industry Minister Angus Taylor said that the government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy is helping to develop the Australian economy.
“Backing businesses to grow our manufacturing sector and securing our sovereign capability is critical to our plan for a strong economy and a stronger future for Australia,” Mr Taylor said.
The largest grant awarded in this announcement was $13.9 million for packaging business Pro-Pac Group. The firm will use the funding to recycle used waste plastic for use in their packaging products.
Pro-Pac Packaging is based in Sydney, but the group operates across Australia, New Zealand and Canada. According to the group’s 2021 Action Plan, it aims to incorporate or optimise recycled or renewable content in more than 50 per cent of its products in three years.
A $5 million grant has also been awarded to medical device company EmVision for the development of its portable brain scanner used to help treat patients who have suffered from a stroke. The funding will enable the firm to begin commercial scale manufacturing with the potential for export. EmVision has a facility in Sydney and Brisbane.
Radiopharmaceutical manufacturer Cyclotek will invest its $1.7 million grant in assuring their supply chain for nuclear therapeutics. The company’s product uses Positron Emission Tomography which helps diagnose cancer are improves the accuracy of assessing its severity.
Its main facility is at Bundoora, Victoria but began New South Wales operations in 2019 through the acquisition of Pettech Solutions and Cyclopharm’s cyclotron facility at Macquarie University Hospital. The business also has a facility in New Zealand.
The remaining $2.1 million will go towards defence manufacturer Thomas Global Systems to improve its capability to develop and manufacture military avionics equipment for export. Thomas Global Systems has facilities in Sydney and California.
In another funding announcement on Monday, Mr Taylor awarded construction materials manufacturer Boral $30 million to investigate the feasibility of deploying a carbon capture and storage system developed by technology firm Calix. The grant, which is the maximum allowed, comes through the technologies stream of the Carbon Capture Use and Storage Hubs and Technologies Program.
Boral is proposing that the system be deployed at its FutureCem cement plant in the NSW Southern Highlands. If deployed, the system will capture and compress up to 100 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
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