The plastics recycling company ECO Plastics, Hemswell, U.K., has reported that it has sorted its one billionth
plastic bottle since re-opening its plastics recycling facility November 2010.
The facility was rebuilt after a massive fire destroyed the facility in August 2009. The new plastics processing facility includes equipment from Stadler, TITECH and Herbold. The facility has a sorting capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year.
While the facility is capable of producing 11 different streams of plastics, including HDPE flake, the company says that the facility is focused on handling and processing and manufacturing food-grade recycled PET pellet. The company adds that it has signed an agreement with Coca Cola Enterprises in March 2011 to take in the recycled pellet.
“Our recent deal with Coca Cola Enterprises is a first for the U.K. and means that we will continue to grow. Once the work has been completed during the early part of 2012, we will be able to sort 140,000 metric tons of plastic per year, almost 50 percent of the total number of bottles collected nationally,” says Jonathan Short, ECO Plastics’ managing director.
“That’s clearly a sizeable percentage, but given that the U.K. recovers less than half of the bottles used every year, there is definitely room for expansion. The challenge now is to make sure that we make the most of the situation, by helping people understand that plastic is a valuable resource.”
Source : www.recyclingtoday.com
