Viridor commissions new plastics recycling facility

United Kingdom-based recycling and waste management firm Viridor reports it has officially opened its newest plastics recycling facility (PRF) in Rochester, England. The company invested around £12.5 million (US$19.8 million) on the project. The facility was built in conjunction with the equipment company Stadler UK. Construction on the facility began in May 2014.

When fully operational the facility will be able to process 75,000 metric tons of mixed plastics each year into segregated plastic grades ready to be reprocessed into secondary raw materials for use in the manufacture of a variety of packaging and other products, says Viridor.

The facility has an ability to recover mixed plastics as well as commingled glass and cans through its combination of sorting technologies. Viridor says it will be able to separate up to 10,000 metric tons of glass from combined input streams every year.

“I’m pleased to see our latest investment already providing an improved recycling service for customers in Kent and beyond,” says Ian McAulay, Viridor’s CEO. “Transforming what others see as waste into quality resources that can be used within manufacturing is a key requirement to greater resource efficiency in the U.K. That is good for U.K. business and for the environment.”

The Rochester PRF contains 121 conveyor belts that allow the company to move the recyclables throughout the building. Metals are removed using seven crossbelt magnets and five eddy current separators, while three picking stations focus on manual separation of unwanted items such as paper and film.

After ballistic separation, a series of 16 optical sorting machines made by TiTech isolate the required mixture of plastic grades for the baling machines.

The plant is expected to process 14 metric tons of recyclables per hour and up to 350 bales of plastics per day. The material to be processed will run through about 400 meters of conveyor belts.

Below is an embedded video featuring the new Viridor PRF.