15 March 2011

Coca-Cola invests 5M in ECO Plastics deal
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and ECO Plastics have agreed a ten-year, joint venture deal to develop a new purpose-built recycling facility in Lincolnshire.

CCE is investing £5M, while ECO Plastics is ploughing in an additional £10M to complete funding for the project.

The new recycling plant will be built on ECO Plastics' current site in Lincolnshire and is expected to be operational next year. It will create 15 jobs during the construction phase and up to 30 new jobs once operational.

Last year around 35,000 tonnes of PET bottles were reprocessed in the UK. Once it is fully operational, the new facility will increase this total to over 75,000 tonnes - more than doubling the amount of high quality rPET currently produced in the UK.

The plant will also supply CCE with enough GB-sourced, high quality rPET to enable it to meet its target of including 25% rPET in all of its plastic packaging in GB by 2012.

Simon Baldry, CCE GB managing director, said: "CCE is committed to transforming recycling in Great Britain. Our investment in this project with ECO Plastics will start to address the recycling challenges in this country. British PET bottles will be recycled for re-use in packaging that will be sold from the shelves of British retailers."

ECO Plastics' managing director, Jonathan Short, said: "Demand for sustainable packaging in the UK has gathered pace in recent years, whilst the UK supply of recycled plastics has grown significantly. Coca-Cola Enterprises has recognised these trends and has taken positive action that will help accelerate UK plastics recycling. This is the 'low carbon economy' in practice."

The initiative also prompted a response from waste minister, Lord Henley, who said: "It [the investment] more than doubles the UK's ability to turn used drinks bottles into new ones, which reduces the carbon footprint of every bottle made, compared with using virgin material. Coca-Cola and ECO Plastics' efforts are an innovative blueprint for the future and show how producers can take responsibility to step up to this challenge."

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