An Australian company last week outlined plans to establish a revolutionary soft-plastic recycling operation in Ararat that it believes could bring more than $300 million to the region.

Plastoil Projects Ararat Ltd is working to establish a recycling facility thaty can transform soft-plastic waste into liquid oil with a range of potential uses, including in food-grade packaging.

The company will use WASTX technology developed by German company Enespa, with an investment memorandum indicating it intends to begin operations within a month.

Plastoil managing director Arj Wimalasuriya summarised the company's plans at a business networking event in Ararat on Wednesday, hosted by Ararat Rural City Council and the Greater Ararat Business Network.

Mr wimalasuriya said the project had the potential to transform Ararat's economy, supporting 40 ongoing jobs as well as additional jobs during construction.

"The catch-up in Ararat was about engaging with the local business community to...making sure we're delivering a key project but also delivering to Ararat's strategic plan and creating jobs in the area," he said.

"There will probably be about 40 jobs directly created as part of the project, but external to that with the construction and participation of contractors, there will probably be an impact of about 100 jobs for the area.

"It's a unique, first-of-its-kind thing in Australia, and Ararat leading the charge is going to be a great opportunity for the region."

Mr Wimalasuriya said the project would support a circular economy transforming wast products into usable goods, decarbonising local industry in the process.

"In a nutshell, we're creating an advanced chemical recycling plant that is going to take soft plastic and convert it into an oil," he said.

"That oil will then be used by our partners such as Viva (Energy), Exxon and our key partner Amcor to make food-grade packaging.

"It's fully circular, so it's not wasting energy. The oil that is produced goes back into food-grade packaging.

"There's no wastage and little to no emissions - it meets Euro 5 emissions (standards) - so it's great for the environment."

Mr Wimalasuriya said Ararat was a good base for Plastoil's operations. "It's in area where there are intermodal connections - it's close to rail and road," he said.

Plastoil's investment memorandum indicated the project was quickly and easily scalable.

The memorandum said the company was seeking between $15 and $25 million of funding to complete the first phase of its operations.

On average, Australians use about 136 kilograms of plastic per person each year, with less than 16 kilograms of it being recycled.

The memorandum said the collapse of Australian soft-plastic recycling scheme REDcycle in 2022 had left the country without sustainable solutions for soft plastic - a breach Plastoil intended to help fill. Although all Australian states and territories have banned single-use plastic bags, Plastoil's report projected the demand for plastic would increase by 100 percent in the next 10 years as most food packaging were plastic-dependent.

"If you walk into a supermarket, 70 percent of the products packaged on the shelves are made by Amcor, whether it's for Cadbury or PepsiCo, or Kellogg's or anyone else," Mr Wimalauriya said.