Greenstar WES Receives WRAP Grant

Greenstar WES, based in the United Kingdom, has announced that it has been chosen to receive a grant by the Waste & Resource Action Programme (WRAP). The grant money will be used to boost mixed plastics recycling in Great Britain by about 20,000 metric tons per year.

The grant was awarded following a competition that began in June 2009 to increase the recycling of non-bottle household plastic packaging in the U.K.

Greenstar WES will use the WRAP grant to add new sorting, separation and cleaning equipment at its site on the Wilton International industrial park, the company says. Related orders are being placed this month.

When the plant opens early next year, Greenstar WES will process up to 20,000 metric tons per year of mixed plastics such as margarine tubs, yogurt containers, meat trays and other packaging materials from household and consumer recycling collections.

The materials will be processed into plastic flake or pellets for use as recycled content in the manufacture of new packaging containers and materials.

“We were delighted with the quality of bids for this grant,” says Marcus Gover, WRAP’s director for Market Development. “Mixed plastic packaging is an extremely visible waste stream, and householders increasingly want it to be recycled in the same way as other packaging materials such as glass, plastic bottles and cans. It has a value as a recycled material, and it does not make economic or environmental sense to dispose of it in landfill. We’re looking forward to the extra domestic capacity that Greenstar WES will add with this new facility.”

“We’re delighted to receive WRAP funding for our new facility,” says James Donaldson, Greenstar WES’ founding and managing director. “The grant recognizes Greenstar WES’s outstanding track record in developing the plastic recycling technology and processes to maximize resource recovery and reuse.”