BERRY bpi has installed the first wash plant and recycling facility in the UK described as being able to recycle both flexible and rigid plastics.
Located at Berry’s Heanor, Derbyshire factory, the firm predicts it will increase its recycling capacity by approximately 1,200 tonnes per year. Sourcing material from household and industrial waste and utilising an ‘advanced purification process’, the plant produces recyclate that can be used in rigid and flexible applications such as storage boxes and collation shrink films.
Berry explained an important aspect of the design of the facility is that all water used during the recycling process is recirculated and reused, while waste from the process is sent to a waste to energy plant in Nottingham.
“This is an important development that further strengthens our leadership in plastics recycling,” said Gerry McGarry of Berry bpi. “The versatility of the line will enable us to become even more responsive in meeting the growing demand for high quality recycled material for new applications to support customers’ sustainability objectives, in particular the requirements of the forthcoming Plastics Packaging Tax, while the reduced water consumption demonstrates our own sustainability commitments.”
The installation project has been co-funded by WRAP, the Waste Resource and Action Programme.
