UK-based AWS Eco Plastics has just announced that it has finished its £14 million upgrade to its Hemswell, Lincolnshire plant, making it Europe’s largest plastic bottle recycling facility.
According to the company, the upgrade to its plant, which was made possible by £6 million in funding from the Sustainable Technology Fund, increased the facility’s capacity by 400 per cent, making it possible to process 15 tonnes of plastic waste hourly, or 100,000 tonnes each year.
The chief executive of AWS, Jonathan Short, has said the facility’s upgrades now makes it possible to recycle plastic waste in the UK that had previously been exported to China and other countries.
AWS has said that it plans to add another processing line in 2009, with the objective of producing recycled plastic material that meets food packaging standards.
The chief executive noted that there was currently an unmet demand in the market for UK-produced recycled plastic that could be used in food packaging. He added that the company expected significant interest from supermarkets in the new processing line planned for next year.
AWS’s news was reported shortly after its recycling rival, Closed Loop Recycling, announced that it was increasing its capacity and had received planning permission to construct a £12 million plant in North Wales that would be able to process 50,000 tonnes of plastic bottles annually.
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