UK innovator turns Australian landfill into recycled plastic railway sleepers

UK-based Sicut is helping decarbonise rail networks in Australia. The company makes sleepers for railway tracks using 100% recycled plastic – typically from household waste. This means rail infrastructure companies don’t need to use hardwood timber or concrete when maintaining tracks.

In late 2024, the company won a A$5 million grant to build a factory near Bathurst, New South Wales. Thomas Staley, Sicut’s Finance Director, says this means Sicut can begin making sleepers from Australian household waste. This waste might otherwise go to landfill.

‘With a new factory in Australia, we can help decarbonise the local rail industry and build the circular economy in Australia,’ he says. ‘We will also support the regional economy in New South Wales, and supply to railways across Australia. We also aim to serve export markets in Southeast Asia.’

Keeping recycling targets on track

Sicut is a UK manufacturing company with operations in Middlesborough, England and Kansas in the US. The company has perfected the production of a polymer made from household plastic waste – such as detergent bottles – into strong and resilient railway sleepers.

Starting in 2015, the company began making sleepers for the UK’s principal railway infrastructure company, Network Rail. Today, it exports sleepers to railways across Europe. It also serves the massive US freight and transit railroads from its factory in Kansas: the rail crossroads of the US.

‘In effect, we turn an environmental problem into an infrastructure asset,’ says Staley. ‘Last year, we turned around 5,000 tonnes of plastic waste into railway sleepers.

‘This means railway companies don’t have to use timber or concrete sleepers – and concrete carries a huge carbon cost. There’s no better place for plastic waste than in transport infrastructure. This is the embodiment of a circular economy.’

Sicut will turn household waste into railway sleepers, helping Australian railways decarbonise by reducing their use of timber and concrete infrastructure.

Next stop: Australia

Staley points out that existing tracks use a lot of timber, including 200-year-old hardwood. This needs renewal. He says Sicut’s technology can help Australian railways move away from cutting down trees.

‘Rail freight is key to decarbonising the rail network,’ he says. ‘Australia has a huge freight-rail network that is vital to exports. Coal and iron ore mining companies rely on railways for shipments to seaports. So do agricultural exporters.

‘Also, we can re-use plastic waste from Australian households. This means the plastic doesn’t have to be recycled again for at least 50 years.’

One reason for building a regional base in Australia was legal protection for the company’s polymer technology.

‘We want to grow our manufacturing in jurisdictions where our IP will be protected,’ says Staley. ‘By choosing Australia, we can be confident our investment will be secure.

‘The Bathurst factory will be our bridgehead to Asia.’

Support from Australian state and federal governments

Sicut examined the potential to build a sleeper factory in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

‘By 2022 we were already exporting sleepers to Australia from the UK, so we knew there was a market in Australia,’ says Staley. ‘The plan came together in early 2023. We selected New South Wales and applied for a recycling grant in August 2023. That kicked off an appraisal process.’

In August 2024, Sicut was awarded a grant from the New South Wales Recycling Modernisation Fund. This will aid the construction of a new factory near Bathurst. The project will support 30 ongoing and 10 construction jobs. It will recycle up to 8,000 tonnes of household plastics per year into sleepers for Australian railways.

‘I’ve worked with multiple governments, and the interactions with the Australian Commonwealth and state governments were really impressive,’ says Staley. ‘The requirements were clear, and the process was robust and pragmatic.

‘We now have a comfortable framework to operate in. Factory construction is scheduled for October 2025.’

How Austrade helped

Austrade’s London advisors helped at multiple steps in the investment journey.

‘Austrade has been a big help in facilitating market entry,’ says Staley. ‘They helped me evaluate opportunities in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland – and we spent a lot of time looking at options. Austrade also arranged introductions to the relevant state officials.’

Austrade’s Investment Director in London, David Fisken, also helped Staley to make vital industry connections.

‘We have good links to the relevant feedstock industries and rail organisations,’ says Fisken. ‘This is a great initiative for helping to decarbonise Australian railways and we had plenty of interest from officials in Australia.’