PLANS by a Newcastle company to develop a new £15m recycling facility have been approved and work will soon begin on the development which will create 30 new jobs.
Wallsend-based ECO Plastics has received planning permission from Lincolnshire County Council for the expansion at its Hemswell sorting facility.
The plastic bottles recycler is able to proceed with the development after Coca-Cola agreed to invest £5m and enter into a 10-year supplier agreement with it.
ECO Plastics operates one of Europe’s largest plastic recycling facilities with the ability to recycle plastic bottles into flakes (rPET) which can then be used to make new bottles and go into food packaging.
The £15m funding round will allow it to expand its Lincolnshire plant from 100,000sq ft to 140,000sq ft.
Peter Gangsted, chairman of ECO Plastics, said: “Today’s announcement is the next phase in ECO Plastics’ development. Over the last year we have successfully transformed our plant into the largest and most sophisticated in Europe. We will not take our foot off the pedal and expect to start construction over the summer in order to have the site operational in time for the 2012 Olympics.”
Nick Brown, commercial recycling manager for Coca-Cola Enterprises said: “This project represents a major milestone for addressing the recycling challenges in this country. Coca-Cola Enterprises has committed to incorporating 25% of rPET pellet into all our plastic bottles in Britain by 2012, and our investment with ECO Plastics is key for making this a reality.”
Source : www.nebusiness.co.uk
