Developing England’s First Advanced Plastics Recycling Facility

SEATTLE (Waste 360): Recycling Technologies, specialists in feedstock recycling of residual plastic waste, has partnered with Swindon Borough Council (SBC) and power and waste management specialists Public Power Solutions to assess the feasibility of delivering a “first in England” advanced recycling facility for virtually all plastics.

The Swindon-based advanced Plastic Recycling Facility, known as aPRF, would be the first plant of its kind in England and is driven by SBC, which processes its own waste streams.

SBC has been assessing plastic recycling in the region, and engagement work around a wider waste strategy with Swindon residents revealed the importance of recycling collection services. As part of SBC’s 10-year waste strategy, the council is now reviewing its current plastics recycling infrastructure, which was inspired by the recent publication of “Project Lodestar,” a case study that shows the potential for waste site operators to recycle all plastics by combining state-of-the-art mechanical and feedstock recycling—the latter supplied by Recycling Technologies—in an aPRF.

“Working for our shareholder Swindon Borough Council and having seen the results of the Project Lodestar, we are committed to having a Lodestar-inspired facility in Swindon by 2020 in order to make Swindon the leading council in England for plastic recycling,” said Bernie Brannan, managing director for Public Power Solutions, in a statement.

Adrian Griffiths, CEO at Recycling Technologies, explains that the aPRF concept has been studied in depth by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's (EMF) New Plastic Economy group from both environmental and economic viewpoints.

A core technology of the aPRF is Recycling Technologies’ RT7000 feedstock recycling machine, which is capable of recycling previously unrecyclable plastics, such as films, bottle caps and laminated plastics like crisp packets and colored plastic pots and trays.

Recycling Technologies developed and patented the machine to convert plastic waste back into oil, called Plaxx, from which new plastics can be made. The machine heats up the plastic in the absence of oxygen to break down the waste plastic into Plaxx. Recycling Technologies already has a pilot plant, the Beta Plant, in Swindon that is processing mixed plastic waste and produces Plaxx.

Courtesy: https://waste360.com