Greenstar WES leads way in recycling

Feb 3 2010 by Kelley Price, Evening Gazette

A PIONEERING recycler has been handed a multi million pound grant to become the first non-bottle plastics recycler of its kind in the UK.

Award-winning Wilton company Greenstar WES produced the world’s first 100% recyclable virgin quality high density polyethylene plastic pellet last year - now it’s leading the way in other types of plastics recycling.

It will invest in a new sorting and cleaning facility, requiring up to 20 new staff, and boost UK recycling by 20,000 tonnes, thanks to a capital grant award by WRAP - the Waste & Resources Action Programme.

If the project is successful, it could be the launchpad for more spin-off facilities in the Tees Valley and will create a valuable source of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for other users.

Plastics plants - including in the past Artenius - have struggled to find sufficient sources of UK PET chips to use in recycled product.

Last week the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee lambasted the Government for its ‘unambitious’ 2007 waste strategy.

But Greenstar WES managing director James Donaldson said the company’s latest venture was a major step towards self-sufficiency when it comes to tackling the UK’s rubbish mountain.

He said: “Bottles are easy to recover, but the other types - trays, pots - often end up being shipped to China. We will take all the plastics that go into your recycling bin at home that aren’t bottles. There is another company in the UK that sorts these plastics into individual polymers, but we are the first to properly upgrade into a finished chip product.”

He added the company - which won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise last year - was talking to a number of companies about possible end uses.

“WRAP awarded us the funds because we offered a reliable but novel solution that gave the best chance of accessing this waste stream properly.

“Most of these materials used to be sent abroad. If this works, there is the potential for spin-off plants, which is part of WRAP’s agenda to make the UK recycling industry more sustainable.

“This type of project creates products and jobs in the UK - and the Tees Valley is perfectly suited to this type of heavy industry.”

Marcus Gover, WRAP’s director for market development, said: “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.”

The plant will open in early 2011.