Plastic bottle recycler Closed Loop Recycling (Dagenham / UK; www.closedlooprecycling.co.uk) says it is spending GBP 12m (EUR 15m) on a purification system that will allow it to accept more waste from materials recycling facilities (MRFs). The company is already investing another GBP 12m (EUR 15m) on an expansion programme that will see its plastic sorting capacity increase to over 100,000 t/y from its present 35,000 t/y – see Plasteurope.com of 04.01.2012. When both investment projects are completed they will create a further 100 jobs.

Machinery for the plastics purification system is expected to be installed and operational by September 2013, according to managing director Chris Dow. Funding for this state-of-the-art equipment is being provided by one of Closed Loop’s existing investors, but Dow says he is unable to specify exactly what is to be installed as he is bound by non-disclosure agreements. However, he did say that the machinery involved all three stages of recycling: sorting, washing and extrusion. The final result will enable Closed Loop to provide considerably more food-grade material for processing into bottles by companies such as Coca-Cola and Marks & Spencer.

Closed Loop Recycling was originally born out of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and has helped to stimulate UK consumers to recycle more since the GBP 18m (EUR 23m) facility was established in 2008. The plant was included as part of London’s bid for the 2012 Olympics as the organising committee sought to make the event as environmentally friendly as possible. Now, with further plant investment planned, Dow says that is something to celebrate. “We have pioneered recycling in the UK,” he says, “and stimulated competition in the sector.”