Plastic bottle recycler ECO Plastics (Hemswell, Lincolnshire / UK; www.ecoplasticsltd.com) has been granted planning permission by Lincolnshire County Council for a GBP 15m expansion of its HQ sorting facility. The enlarged facility is a joint venture with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE, Uxbridge, Middlesex / UK; www.cokecce.co.uk) and will supply food-grade, recycled PET to CCE – see Plasteurope.com of 11.03.2011.

The soft drinks company is providing GBP 5m funding for the new plant, which will raise capacity on the site by 40,000 t/y to 140,000 t/y. Construction of the new facility is expected to start in the summer and it is planned to be operational before the 2012 Olympics, according to Peter Gangsted, chairman of ECO Plastics. It will create 30 jobs when coming on stream.

CCE has signed a 10-year off-take contract for rPET and its commercial recycling manager Nick Brown said: “Coca-Cola Enterprises has committed to incorporating 25% of rPET pellet into all our plastic bottles in Britain by 2012 and our investment with ECO Plastics is key for making this a reality.” Some 35,000 t of PET bottles were reprocessed in the UK last year. The ECO Plastics expansion will increase this to more than 75,000 t when it is fully operational. CCE currently sources food-grade rPET from continental Europe.

According to a UK survey, over 54% of plastic bottles in the UK are still not being recycled, because of the lack of the necessary reprocessing infrastructure in the country (see Plasteurope.com of 07.12.2010).