Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Welcomed to New Reprocessing Plant in Woolwich

The Board of PlasRecycle (UK) recently welcomed the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt Hon. Edward Davey MP, and Baroness Sarah Ludford, Liberal Democrat MEP for London who were given a tour of PlasRecycle’s new recycling facility in Woolwich, South East London.

The new facility, which was financed by £10.7 million provided by Foresight Group, LWARB, WRAP and private investors, started operations in late 2013 and uses a unique high-tech proprietary process developed by PlasRecycle. The plant can reprocess 20,000 tonnes per annum of used shopping bags and plastic films, equivalent to one third of all of the 8 billion so-called “single-use” carrier bags handed out by supermarkets every year in the UK. The plant produces a plastic granulate that can be used for making new bags, replacing virgin materials.  For every tonne of plastic packaging that is reprocessed and recycled, there is a corresponding saving of 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

PlasRecycle has received financial support through the Foresight Environmental Fund (FEF), which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and has benefited from the target to increase the recycling of household plastic by 50% set by the EU Waste Framework Directive.

Duncan Grierson, PlasRecycle’s Founder and Chief Executive, said: “We were delighted to show our new plant to the Secretary of State and Sarah Ludford MEP. We welcome politicians from across the political spectrum since it is of great importance that the move towards a “Circular Economy” should pick up momentum, where waste materials are reprocessed and reused.”

“Waste is a resource that has been under-utilised for too long. There are now a range of clean technologies available to ensure we make the most of our resources in the UK. PlasRecycle is making a small but important contribution to the UK’s environmental targets set by the EU’s Waste Framework Directive and the Climate Change Bill. Scientific research by the Environment Agency has shown that regular polythene carrier bags have a much better carbon footprint than alternatives such as paper bags and bio-degradable bags.”

The Rt Hon. Edward Davey added: “"It is great to see this investment in innovative green technology here in the UK and great to see plastic bags being recycled for the first time ever in the UK. PlasRecycle's plant is certainly impressive and its pioneering technology means local authorities and businesses no longer have to export, landfill or incinerate their waste plastic bags but have this state of the art alternative.

"Combined with incentives to cut plastic bag usage, this new recycling technology means the litter and marine pollution from plastic bags can be dramatically reduced."

Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP added: “PlasRecycle is supporting the local community by creating local jobs in an exciting and growing sector, and helping the coalition government’s commitment to meet EU environmental targets to reduce household waste and increase rates of recycling. European legislation and funding is playing a key role in helping to protect our environment and create green jobs in Greenwich, which is why I support Britain’s continued membership of the EU.”

Paul Levett, Chairman of PlasRecycle added “Our plant is open for business and we offer Local Authorities a real alternative to landfill for the plastic bags and other films that are used by their residents. We can convert these back into a clean pellet for making refuse sacks and other useful products."