Plastic bottle recycler ECO Plastics UK recycling giant Viridor have signed a multi-million pound agreement that will see Viridor supply 10,000 metric tons of plastic bottles to ECO for recycling through 2014.
Under the one-year contract, Viridor will supply almost 8 percent of ECO Plastics’ total capacity. The company’s Hemswell facility, a £15m joint venture with Coca-Cola Enterprises, is capable of processing 150,000 metric tons of mixed plastics a year, including 40,000 metric tons of bottle-grade recycled PET. The plant played a key role in Coca-Cola’s recycling efforts during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with some 15 million plastic bottles collected and returned to shelves as part of 63 million new bottles.
The Hemswell plant reprocesses 35 percent of the bottles collected in the UK every year, ECO Plastics says.
The plastics recycler says the agreement points to a growing industry trend of developing long-term collaborations, which allows companies like ECO Plastics to invest in new technology. About 35 percent of ECO Plastics’ feedstock is now supplied through longer partnerships, with a target to reach 70 percent by the end of 2014.