A plant said to be the UK's first to be able to recycle plastics into food packaging could be fully operational by December in Essex following the signing of a £12m joint private and public sector funding agreement.
Located in Dagenham and to be operated by Closed Loop London (CLL) with around 40 staff, it will reportedly be able to turn millions of water, soft drinks and cosmetics bottles back into new food packaging annually, while also ensuring that 35,000 tonnes of packaging, which might otherwise be exported for recycling or landfilled, is converted into packaging material in the UK.
Marks & Spencer is the first major retailer to commit to sending plastic waste from its London stores to the plant, and will also encourage its suppliers to source recycled PET to make M&S packaging (Packaging Today – February 2007). Initiated by Closed Loop London, the project has received private equity funding from “growth investor” Foresight Venture Partners and a banking facility from Allied Irish Bank (GB), and is also supported by public sector funding from the London Development Agency and WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme).
The 35,000 tonne capacity plant will use patented technology developed by South Carolina-based United Resource Recovery Corporation to sort, granulate and “super clean” the recycled plastic bottles to produce a high quality raw material that has been tested extensively and is widely used in food applications in both the US and Europe.
Andrew Page, a partner at Foresight Venture partners, says: “Closed Loop London represents a huge step forward in plastic recycling in the UK, bringing together an entrepreneurial business team with the private funding and strong public sector support. The real attraction for Foresight is investing in a project that achieves the twin aims of being an exciting commercial opportunity and also satisfies consumer demand for environmentally-friendly products.”
“The development of this facility is the realisation of a three-year vision to close the loop on plastics recycling in the UK. The UK will have a world-class facility for processing its plastic waste and need not export this material for reprocessing into low grade applications. I would like to thank all the partners, and particularly WRAP and the Mayor of London, for their support in making this recycling plant a reality.”
Andrew Page: “Closed Loop London represents a huge step forward in plastic recycling in the UK.” Andrew_Page