WRAP Awards ECO Plastics Expansion Loan

The U.K. government agency WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) has awarded the British company ECO Plastics a £1.15 million (US$2.37 million) loan to assist the plastics recycling company in boosting the tons of rigid plastics packaging processed at its Lincolnshire, U.K., facility by 15,000 metric tons. When the expansion is complete, ECO Plastics will be able to recycle around 150,000 metric tons of plastics per year.

The WRAP investment follows a joint venture that ECO Plastics formed with Coca-Cola Enterprises in 2011.
According to WRAP, ECO Plastics’ facility is now better able to process rigid plastic packaging such as tubs, pots and trays as well as plastic bottles.

In a statement, the agency says it is important that rigid plastic packaging is effectively recycled; failing to properly recycle rigid plastics could contaminate the more valuable plastic bottle waste stream.

Over the next three to five years, WRAP says it aims to support higher recycling rates for all plastics packaging through its Mixed Plastics Loan Fund. The goal of the agency is to increase the recycling of rigid plastic packaging in the U.K. by around 100,000 metric tons per year.

“I’m delighted to see this investment in ECO Plastics,"says the U.K.’s Environment Minister Lord Taylor. "It will increase the amount of plastic that gets recycled by 15,000 metric tons, helping to protect the environment and save businesses money by cutting back on their use of raw materials. The recycling industry is growing and we’re working to help companies gain a foothold in this exciting new marketplace which will help us become a zero-waste economy."

Marcus Gover, director of WRAP’s Closed Loop Economy program, says, "Recycling is a great British industry, and this funding represents a further confidence boost. Getting the right reprocessing infrastructure in place is crucial to turning the developing interest in mixed plastics collections from local authorities into a reality. I’d encourage anyone with an interest in recycling plastic packaging to check the criteria of our Mixed Plastics Loan Fund."

Jonathan Short, managing director of ECO Plastics, says, "The processing of nonbottle rigid plastics packaging is the next logical step in U.K. plastics recycling infrastructure. But it is vitally important that we don’t run before we can walk—the processing infrastructure must be in place before we encourage further nonbottle rigid plastics collection across the U.K. Even after this investment, current collections far outweigh the available processing capacity, which remains a serious risk to the whole industry.

“We support WRAP’s vision to see this growth occur in the medium term, allowing companies like ECO Plastics to develop markets for the nonbottle plastic recyclate. It is an essential ingredient for a successful industry,” Short adds.

More information about WRAP's Mixed Plastics Loan Fund is available at www.wrap.org.uk/mplf.