AWS Eco Plastics, based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, U.K., has re-opened its plastics recycling facility in North Lincolnshire, U.K., 14 months after a fire destroyed the plant.
In a ceremony held Nov. 23, Neil Thornton, director of Waste and Resources for the U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, unveiled the new plant, which is capable of processing more than 100,000 metric tons of plastic scrap per year.
According to AWS, the plastics recycling facility is the largest and most sophisticated of its kind in Europe. The facility, valued at more than $26.4 million, features equipment developed by Stadler, TiTech and Herbold. The facility has 17 polymer and optical sorters, which allows the plant to sort as many as 11 different plastic streams, the company says.
AWS also has announced plans for expansion, which the company says will allow it to increase processing capacity at the site to 140,000 metric tons by the middle of 2011.
With the U.K. projected to recycle 300,000 metric tons of plastic bottles per year by the end of 2010, the company’s new facility will be responsible for processing close to half of all the plastic scrap generated in the country in 2010, according to AWS.
In a release, Peter Gangsted, chairman of AWS Eco Plastics, says, “The fire in 2009 was a major blow, but there was a silver lining to it. It allowed us to redevelop and introduce the next-generation machinery that we have today, machinery that is the most sophisticated in the world. That we have been able to rebuild in such a short amount of time is a testament to the hard work of our suppliers, customers and above all our staff.”
Jonathan Short, managing director of AWS Eco Plastics, adds, “Today is just the first step for AWS Eco Plastics. There is huge potential in the U.K. market, and this can only grow as the demand for low-carbon food and drink packaging increases. This is a growth industry in which the U.K. has the potential to be a world-leader, a prime example of the government’s low-carbon economy.”
Source : www.recyclingtoday.com
