The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP, Banbury / UK; www.wrap.org.uk), has launched a GBP 2m (EUR 2.4m) loan fund to boost the reprocessing of mixed plastics waste, such as yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and rigid food trays. WRAP’s Mixed Plastics Loan Fund (MPLF) will provide capital support to potential investors in mixed plastics reprocessing in the UK.

“By establishing a loan fund, as opposed to offering a capital grant, investors can pay back the money after they start making a profit”, explained WRAP’s director of market development Marcus Gover, “and WRAP can re-invest those funds into more support for the mixed plastics market.”

Research by WRAP demonstrated that it is technically possible, commercially viable and environmentally best to recycle mixed plastics on a large scale. It followed this up with a capital grant of GBP 1.19m (EUR 1.36m) to the Greenstar WES Group (Redcar / UK; www.thewesgroup.co.uk), which commissions infrastructure for the UK’s first mixed plastics reprocessing plant and aims to deliver 20,000 t of capacity by March 2011 – see Plasteurope.com of 05.02.2010.

WRAP’s long-term goal is to see mixed plastics recycling capacity established and maintained purely by the private sector. Its 2008-2011 business plan contains a target to deliver 40,000 t/y of capacity in the UK by 2011. Currently 90% of mixed plastics in the UK waste stream go to landfill, equivalent to 1.7m t per year. All of the non-bottle waste currently collected is being exported, mainly to China. Taking into account current prices for recovered materials, WRAP estimates there is a potential market in the UK of GBP 250-500m for mixed plastics reprocessing.

Applications to the MPLF can be made up to 31 December 2010.