Swindon, England-based Recycling Technologies Ltd. has announced that it is working with Swindon Borough Council (SBC) and Public Power Solutions Ltd. to assess the feasibility of delivering an advanced recycling facility for virtually all plastics in Swindon. Public Power Solutions is a wholly owned company of SBC.
SBC has been assessing plastic recycling in the region and engaging in a wider waste strategy with Swindon residents, revealing the importance of recycling collection services. As part of SBC’s 10-year waste strategy, the council is now reviewing its current plastics recycling infrastructure, inspired by the recent publication of Project Lodestar. Project Lodestar is a Pioneer Project initiated and run by participants in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative. Recycling Technologies led the project, which included petrochemical companies and consumer brand companies.
Project Lodestar research shows the potential for waste site operators to recycle “all plastics” by combining mechanical and feedstock recycling, the latter supplied by Recycling Technologies, in an advanced plastics recycling facility (aPRF).
SBC and Public Power Solutions Ltd. have expressed significant interest in Swindon becoming the first site for Recycling Technologies’ RT7000 feedstock recycling machine in England and the second in the U.K. The first RT7000 is to be built in Scotland in 2019.
Recycling Technologies has developed and patented a plastics recycling machine, the RT7000, that converts plastic scrap back into oil, called Plaxx, from which new plastics can be made, according to the company. The machine heats up the plastic in the absence of oxygen, breaking it down into Plaxx. This process allows the RT7000 to recycle plastics commonly considered unrecyclable, such as plastic film, and laminated plastics, including food pouches and crisp packets. Recycling Technologies already has a pilot plant, the Beta Plant, in Swindon that is processing mixed plastics and producing Plaxx.
Adrian Griffiths, CEO and founder of Recycling Technologies, says, “We are delighted that Swindon, the home of our manufacturing facility and HQ, is hoping to also be the home of England’s first aPRF, which includes our RT7000 feedstock recycling machine. There is an urgent need for more plastic recycling capacity in the U.K. to not only stem the flow of plastics into landfill and our environment but to also create jobs and boost economic prosperity across the region.”
Bernie Brannan, managing director, Public Power Solutions Ltd., says, “Working for our shareholder Swindon Borough Council and, having seen the results of the Project Lodestar, we are committed to having a Lodestar-inspired facility in Swindon by 2020 in order to make Swindon the leading council in England for plastic recycling.”
Councilor Maureen Penny, Swindon Borough Council cabinet member for Highways and the Environment, says: “I am delighted Recycling Technologies is working with Public Power Solutions to develop this exciting plastic recycling technology in Swindon. We are currently developing future action plans on how we manage our waste as part of our recently adopted 10-year waste strategy.
An important part of the strategy focuses on utilizing new technologies so this working partnership fits in perfectly to our wider vision of waste management.”
Source : recyclingtodayglobal.com
