Recycling giants ECO Plastics and Viridor sign major agreement
January 30, 2014 at 12:35 pm
UK-based recycling giants, ECO Plastics and Viridor, have recently signed a multi-million pound agreement in which Viridor will supply 10,000 metric tons of plastic bottles to ECO Plastics during the remainder of 2014.
This agreement is the latest in a growing trend within the recycling industry in which re-processing plants have moved away from the practice of random, spot trading and instead develop long-term collaborations with established raw materials providers. The stability and confidence created by these agreements have allowed for companies, like ECO Plastics, to invest in the creation of new technology, further developing the UK’s waste infrastructure.
The supplier, Viridor, operates over 320 facilities across the UK and is one of the UK’s leading recycling, renewable energy and waste management companies. Each year, Viridor transforms over two million tons of materials into high-quality raw materials, also known as recyclate. Yet more of these raw materials are converted into over 760 gigawatt hours of renewable energy.
In total, Viridor safely manages over eight million tons of recyclables and waste materials for customers from all sectors across the UK. This current agreement will enable Viridor to provide approximately eight per cent of ECO Plastics’ total recycling capacity.
ECO Plastics is the UK’s leading re-processor of recyclable materials. Through ECO Plastics’ Hemswell plant, the company has the capability to process 150,000 metric tons of mixed plastics each year, which equates to roughly 35 per cent of the recyclable plastic bottles collected in the UK every year. Currently 35 per cent of ECO Plastics’ raw materials are supplied through partnerships similar to their agreement with Viridor. The company hopes to expand this to 70 per cent by the end of 2014.
