Alternative Waste Solutions (AWS) has started on a £14m (€19m) expansion of its recycling plant in Hemswell, Lincolnshire with a view to creating the world’s largest facility capable of handling up to 100,000 tonnes of mixed plastic bottles annually.
The plant will have food grade capability for both PET and HDPE when it comes on stream commercially late this year. Full utilisation of capacity is not expected before the end of 2009.
AWS has received a £2m (€2.7m) cash injection to kick-start the project: £1.5m (€2m) from the Sustainable Technology Fund managed by E-Synergy; £400,000 (€537,000) from North Star Equity Investors; and £100,000 (€134,265) from a private investor.
AWS managing director, Jonathan Short, said: “This announcement shows AWS is set to be a serious contender in the food grade market.”
Short told PRWmold.wiki that he had placed orders for £2m (€2.7m) worth of machinery before Christmas to expand the plant’s existing sorting capacity from 20,00 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes. Completion of this phase is expected by the end of May.
Orders valued at £8m (€11m) are scheduled to be placed by the end of January for hot wash and extrusion equipment to create the food grade area of the enlarged plant. This will produce both HDPE and PET pellet materials for production of food grade bottles, as well as PET flake suitable for thermoforming.
“There is growing demand in the UK for food grade recycled plastic that has been recovered from the UK waste stream,” said E-Synergy’s Andrew Stevenson, who has joined the board of AWS as investor director. “AWS has a substantial opportunity to grow very quickly, driven by strong customer pressure on drinks companies to use more recycled content in their bottles.”
Jonathan Short is confident that additional funding can be secured for the £14m project. He also expects AWS to have joined AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market, by the second quarter of 2009.
Related Catagory: plastic material
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