IT was an ambitious plan promoted as going to revolutionise the fuel industry.
Take end-of-life plastics that would otherwise be destined for landfill and convert it into road-ready fuel.
Integrated Green Energy Solutions (IGE), formerly known as Foy Group, had plans to build factories in Canberra, the Central Coast, Taree and around the world, but the listed company was placed in liquidation in June 2021.
A liquidator's report issued this month reveals IGE's three secured creditors are chasing more than $33 million and 98 unsecured creditors are owed more than $37 million, and there is little hope of any return.
Glenn Livingstone, of WLP Restructuring, said he would like to hold public examinations into the collapse of the company, but there were no funds to do so.
He said the company had about $50,000 in the bank and he would need between $150,000 and $300,000 to conduct public examinations to investigate the collapse.
IGE's technology was promoted as having a carbon footprint 38 per cent lower than that of conventionally produced diesel.
According to IGE, its system worked by placing plastic into a chamber at 400 degrees Celsius and in the absence of oxygen it would return to its original oil state.
Despite the grand plans and mass of investors who poured millions into the much-hyped venture, the company was forced into liquidation after Sydney builder and property developer Charles McIntosh successfully sought a wind-up order after a $10 million loan to one of his companies was not repaid.
An ACT government health panel set up to investigate IGE's planned factory at Hume, killed off the plan in April 2018, warning it posed too many risks.
Describing the factory as a mix of "chemical processing facility, mini crude oil refinery and fuel storage facility", the panel said converting plastic to fuel was "a promising objective" but far from a proven technology.
The company's bid to build a similar facility on the Central Coast was rejected by the NSW EPA in 2017 due to the lack of data from any existing facilities, as the scheme's technology was new.
IGE had asserted there would be no harmful contaminants in the plastics that went into its Canberra plant, and so none in the emissions, but didn't provide enough evidence to support the claim.
Contaminants in plastics could flow through to fuel quality and emissions, the ACT expert panel found, describing the danger as "garbage in garbage out".
Know more? Donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
