Coca-Cola in new recycling plant project
March 20, 2011 at 1:55 pm
The quantity of plastic bottles that can be recycled in the UK is about to get a massive boost thanks to a new partnership between Coca-Cola (CCE) and ECO Plastics. The two firms have joined forces to announce the building of a new £15 million recycling facility at Hemswell in Lincolnshire which will be dedicated to recycling plastic bottles.
The new facility is part of a 10-year joint venture, and once it is up and running it will more than double the quantity of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drinks bottles that can be recycled in the UK. Last year, 35,000 tonnes of PET was processed in the UK; once the facility is up and running that figure will rise to over 75,000 tonnes.
Coca-Cola is making a £5 million investment towards the construction of the site after the original site was destroyed by fire in August 2009. ECO Plastics will raise a further £10 million, and the facility is set to go operational in 2012, leading to the creation of 45 jobs in both the construction phase and the operational phase.
Coca-Cola stands to benefit from a regular supply of recycled PET to help it reach its target of 25% recycled plastics in its UK packaging by 2012.
The MD of ECO Plastics, Jonathan Short, said that the company was “delighted to be partnering with a company of the calibre of Coca-Cola Enterprises”. Simon Baldry, the MD of CCE GB, said that the move will help to “address the recycling challenges in this country”.
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