A new capital support competition has been launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme to encourage closed-loop recycling of post-use HDPE plastic bottles in food contact applications, specifically milk bottles.
The Open Tender competition will build on a WRAP development project completed last year, which demonstrated that HDPE milk bottles could be recycled into new ones on a commercially viable and environmentally sound basis.
WRAP wants the industry to take the research on board and establish an industrial sorting and closed-loop recycling process for post-use HDPE bottles. Such a facility would be unique in the UK and a world first in technological terms.
"It is a genuine case of 'we have the technology'," says Paul Davidson, Plastics Technology Manager at WRAP. "We've studied the practical, commercial and environmental aspects, as well as the regulatory requirements, and we know that it is genuinely achievable. We have introduced the capital support competition to fund up to 30 percent of the cost of infrastructure, plant and equipment to enable UK industry to lead the world in establishing a closed-loop recycling process for post-use HDPE bottles."
Michelle O'Riley, WRAP's Capital Grant manager adds: "Through the capital support program and other initiatives, we aim to achieve up to 30 percent recycled HDPE content in the manufacture of one quarter of the UK's plastic milk bottle production and increase processing capacity for HDPE recycled plastic in food applications by 13,000 metric tons per year. To meet this target, we may provide support to more than one plant."
Closing the loop WRAP has invested significantly in a number of projects to prove that closed-loop HDPE plastic recycling for food applications is achievable and practical. Prominent among these is the project completed in 2005 that examined all aspects of the collection, sorting, recycling and re-use of the recovered HDPE, with particular emphasis on three key quality control elements: raw material source control, cleaning efficiency and analytical quality checks.
This major R&D initiative was delivered by a consortium of leading European companies and research institutes, led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging in Germany. Project partners included Dairy Crest, Nampak Plastics and Delleve Plastics as well as RAPRA Technology in the UK, and equipment manufacturers RTT Systemtechnik, Germany, Sorema/Previero, Italy and EREMA, Austria.
The project culminated in the development of an industrial sorting and closed-loop process for post-use HDPE bottles. A copy of the project's final report, Develop a Food Grade HDPE Recycling Process is available in the publications section of WRAP's website at www.wrap.org.uk. Having proved the concept, WRAP then conducted a feasibility trial, Food Grade HDPE Recycling Process: Feasibility Study, which can also be sourced on the website.
The organization is currently supporting a large-scale production trial over time, which will produce 2,000,000 HDPE milk bottles with recycled content. As part of the competition process, the results of this trial, as well as details of the food grade recycling process that has been developed, will be made available. Potential applicants - and other interested parties - are invited to WRAP's offices in Banbury, Oxon, on Friday 18 August to meet the trial project team, discuss the findings and view a video presentation. For further details and to reserve places, e-mail the WRAP Capital Grants team, quoting ref: MDP007, at capital.support@wrap.org.uk
Apply for funding The Plastics Capital Support Programme is open to anyone wishing to produce food grade HDPE in the UK using milk bottles that would qualify for Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005.
Assessments are rigorous and applicants have to fulfill strict eligibility criteria. First and foremost, they must demonstrate that their project is a capital investment to create new, or expand existing, capacity to process post-use HDPE bottles from municipal, commercial and industrial sources. Material suitable for food contact applications must be an output and production needs to be sustainable in the medium to long term.
Full tender details, including the application process and assessment criteria, are available on the WRAP website at www.wrap.org.uk or by e-mailing the WRAP Capital Grants team, quoting ref: MDP007, at capital.support@wrap.org.uk. The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon on Tuesday 29 August 2006.