18 March 2011

UK's first mixed plastics recycling plant opens
Biffa Polymers has opened the UK's first fully integrated sorting and recycling facility for mixed plastic packaging with help of a £1.2m grant from Wrap.

The plant, which will create 28 jobs in Redcar, Middlesbrough, will begin to process 15,000 tonnes of mixed plastics per year from April 2011, building up to the full capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year by April 2012. It will process plastics from Biffa's material recycling facilities, as well as local authorities and commercial customers from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

The plastics are sorted by polymer type and colour, and then processed to produce a high quality output, suitable for a wide range of end uses. Some of the output will be processed through Biffa's food-grade HDPE recycling facility at the same site and go back into the manufacture of new milk bottles.

Biffa Polymers managing director, Martin Marron, said: "Following the success of being the first company in the UK to produce food grade recycled HDPE plastic which is used to make new milk bottles, Biffa Polymers is delighted to be once again at the forefront of the recycling industry.

"We believe in pushing the boundaries to find the best solutions for plastic recycling in the UK."

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