UK business secretary Vince Cable on 23 April opened the new GBP 12m (EUR 14.6m) milk bottle recycling line commissioned by Closed Loop Recycling (Dagenham / UK; www.closedlooprecycling.co.uk) – for previous coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 22.11.2013. The line raises capacity at the recycler’s Dagenham plant to 55,000 t/y, which the company said makes it “the biggest recycler of milk bottles in the world.” The capacity expansion will see Closed Loop raise its existing workforce of 200 by about 50.

Closed Loop CEO Chris Dow said the plant is the most advanced plastics purification facility in the UK, adding that the company has also entered into a joint green initiative with food recycler TEG (Chorley, Lancashire / UK; http://theteggroup.plc.uk). Under the agreement, Closed Loop will be using waste heat from TEG’s facility to heat its wash lines for recycled plastics, allowing for both carbon and financial savings.

Dow added that “recycled milk and water bottles are a massive win for the circular economy”, emphasising that the government needs to do more to encourage recycling in the UK rather than export its waste abroad. In a report published at the end of last year, UK plastics waste management and recycling specialist Recoup (Peterborough; www.recoup.org) warned that household plastic bottle collection is stalling and that the country may not be able to achieve its 2017 recycling goals – for details, see Plasteurope.com of 19.12.2013.