Funding for Plastic Recycling Facility and New WRAP Guidelines

03 February 2012

A loan that will allow the recycling of an additional 15,000 tonnes of rigid plastic packaging at ECO Plastics' recycling facility in Lincolnshire has been provided the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP).

According to WRAP the £1.15million loan will enable ECO Plastics to extend its existing bottle sorting and processing facility to a total capacity to recycle some 150,000 tonnes of plastics annually.

WRAP said that the investment complements the joint venture that the business formed with Coca-Cola Enterprises last year and will mean that its Hemswell facility is now better able to process rigid plastic packaging such as tubs, pots and trays, as well as plastic bottles.

The loan follows the Programme's previous funding of a Biffa Polymers plant in Redcar in 2010. WRAP added that it is important that rigid plastic packaging is effectively recycled as it can contaminate the highly valuable plastic bottle waste stream. 

It is hoped that as the UK's capacity to process non-bottle plastics packaging grows, it will ultimately become viable for local authorities to routinely collect non-bottle plastic packaging in kerbside collections.

Over the next three to five years, WRAP said that aims to increase the UK's capacity to recycle its rigid plastic packaging by 100,000 tonnes per year through the Mixed Plastics Loan Fund, but in a way that allows quality to be maintained.

Guidelines

WRAP also recently launched its new technical guide that aims to help local authorities increase plastic bottle recycling rates.

According to the organisation, with demand for PET and HDPE recyclate soaring, WRAP says local authorities have a significant opportunity to boost overall recycling rates by focusing on collections of plastic bottles. 

The new guidelines cover a number of ways in which local authorities can maximise their recycling rates, and covers areas such as types of collection scheme, policies, targets, sorting, Material Recycling Facilities and a number of case studies.

Linda Crichton, Head of Collections at WRAP explained: "Back in 2000, only around 12,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were recycled in the UK - it's now nearly 20 times that amount,"

"We're also seeing rapid growth in domestic infrastructure to reprocess plastic bottles, some of which are even producing recycled food grade materials.  Around half of the plastic bottles collected for recycling are now reprocessed in the UK."

According to Crichton maximising the capture of plastic bottles at the kerbside could be a way for local authorities to reach towards the targets to recycle 50% of household waste in England and 60% in Scotland by 2020.

The guide can be downloaded HERE


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