New hard plastics recycling plant to be built in Essex

Express Plastics & Recycling is developing what could be the first hard plastics recycling plant in the UK in Essex.

The company is developing a £2.1 million facility at Rainham with the aid of a £75,000 grant from the London Recycling Fund.

From next year, the plant will reprocess plastic from rigid items including wheeled bins, milk crates and office equipment, with a staff of 35.

The new plant will eventually have three recycling lines, each with the capacity to deal with 20,000 tons of waste per year. Technology is being brought in from Dutch firm Envirotech.

Express Recycling and Plastics revealed it has already arranged its first major contract with Kent-based Grosvenor Waste Management, who will send plastic picked out at their sites around London to the facility.

New equipment is expected to be installed so that the plant can be up and running by February 2006. At the plant, waste will first be put through a shredder, where large contaminants including metal will be removed. Material would then be washed in a two-stage process in which paper and other contaminants are removed.

Express said its plant will offer 100% plastic granulate to be sold on to plastic production companies, particularly in the automotive sector. The collected metals and woods will also be sold on and the company said it already has outlets for these materials.

Express was created in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of development company The Exchange.

If the first plant is a success, there are already plans in place to add a second plant in South London, with a possible move further afield to follow.