Panda Commits $21 Million Investment in New Plastics Recycling Plant

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Panda-the Ballymount, Dublin-headquartered waste and recycling company has announced investment of $20.8 million towards construction of a new plastics recycling facility in the UK. The opening of the new facility is part of company efforts to counter the uncertainties following Chinese scrap import restrictions.

According to Eamon Waters, CEO of Beauparc Utilities which owns Panda, the company is delighted to make new investment, to further enhance its growing presence in the UK. He noted that the new plant would also help the company to reduce its heavy reliance on China as the primary destination of plastic recyclables. The facility which offers sustainable recycling solution for plastic waste hopes to create nearly employment opportunities for nearly 40 people. The proposed facility will process waste plastic films from both Ireland and the UK, Waters added.

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Waters expressed disappointment for not able to locate the new facility in Ireland. The plans to set up the facility in Ireland had to be dropped due to the long delays in obtaining necessary approvals from various agencies to establish a new recycling facility. On the other hand, the UK regulator has easy and hassle-free protocols that ensure smooth approval procedures. This has forced the company to select UK as the location of the new plant. It expects to start construction works on the plant at the earliest and hopes to commence operations at the plant as early as August this year.

The new plant will have an initial processing capacity to handle up to 15,000 metric tons of plastic per year. After sorting, the clean material will be shredded into smaller pieces. Before being extruded into pellets, they will be washed, granulated and cleaned. The pellets will be used in manufacture of new LDPE products.