Ecosurety and Recycling Technologies announce deal to roll out new plastic waste technology
UK compliance scheme Ecosurety has announced a new deal with plastic waste chemical recycling specialists Recycling Technologies at RWM 2018 (12-13 September), which it hopes will accelerate the commercial roll-out of an innovative technology to improve the scope and capacity of plastic recycling in the UK.
The long-term partnership seeks to offer a solution for the mounting challenges associated with plastic pollution. The deal ties into Ecosurety’s broader business objectives to provide high-level traceability for its customers and to stimulate recycling infrastructure in the UK.
The UK currently exports 66 per cent of the plastic waste it collects for recycling due to a lack of domestic recycling infrastructure. In its recent Packaging Recycling Obligations report, released in July, the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) criticised a six-fold increase in the UK’s exported packaging waste. It revealed that exported material is not quality controlled or audited after it leaves the country and is often being sent to landfill sites abroad, unbeknownst to companies and consumers in the UK.
As part of the UK’s packaging compliance system, certificates that give proof of recycling or export – Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) – are generated and then purchased from reprocessors or exporters by obligated producers once they are recycled exported.
To help address this problem, Ecosurety is committing an estimated £3.2 million to Recycling Technologies, over the partnership. This funding, will help accelerate Recycling Technologies’ chemical recycling capacity, which enables mixed plastic waste currently disposed of in landfill or incinerators to be recycled into a oil/wax-based product named Plaxx®. Plaxx will be used in the production of wax and by petrochemical companies as a feedstock for making new plastics.
In addition, Ecosurety has secured a fixed Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) price from Recycling Technologies, which it can pass on to its base of over 1,000 customers, creating stability for obligated packaging producers.
Commenting on the announcement, James Piper, Managing Director of Ecosurety, said: “There is an urgent need for more plastic recycling capacity in the UK so that we can ensure high levels of transparency in this sector. Working together with Recycling Technologies, Ecosurety is improving the potential capacity of our existing recycling market. This partnership is hugely exciting and aligns with our long-standing business objectives; to help provide the highest level of transparency and best price for our customers’ recycling solutions”.
Adrian Griffiths, CEO of Recycling Technologies, added: “We share a common vision with Ecosurety, to drive growth and innovation in the UK plastic recycling market. Our chemical approach to recycling residual plastics means PRN certificates from Recycling Technologies will be of significant value to Ecosurety’s retail and FMCG customers looking to invest in building the domestic recycling infrastructure.
“We chose to enter into this three year contract with Ecosurety to accelerate our growth and expand our capacity to recycle more plastic waste here in the UK, reducing the country’s dependence on exporting, landfilling and incinerating plastic waste.”
You can find out more about Ecosurety and Recycling Technologies on the companies’ websites.
