Closed Loop invests 12m in plastics purification

East London-based plastic bottle recycler Closed Loop is set to invest 12 million at its Dagenham plant to make itself the UKs most advanced plastics purifier.

The plans were unveiled at the British Business Embassy on Energy today (August 6) by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who praised Closed Loop as well as other green investments set up to form part of Londons Olympic Games legacy.

Closed Loop is already undergoing another 12 million expansion that will see it increase its plastics sorting capacity to over 100,000 tonnes per year, with additional sort line equipment set to be installed at a site adjacent to its current plant (see letsrecycle.com story).

The investment announced today will involve new machinery being installed to allow greater purification of plastics and Closed Loop says it will enable the plant to accept more material from materials recycling facilities (MRFs).

The funding is coming from one of the company’s existing investors, who has not been named. The new technology is expected to be installed and operational by September 2013.

Quality

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Closed Loop managing director, Chris Dow, said: We will be able to source material of a much higher quality, which will also allow us to process more material than we have done previously.

Whats new is a greater intake of material and we are going to be taking in more material from MRFs. We are buying some very expensive equipment that will go in the existing site. It is hi-tech stuff. We are not talking about sorters; it is a high-tech purification system.

Mr Dow added that the investment highlighted the commitment made as part of Londons Olympic bid to make the London 2012 Games the greenest ever Olympics.

He said: With the Great Britain team winning gold medals left, right and centre all the things we hoped would be good from the Games are happening. Green is the new gold! We have pioneered recycling in the UK and stimulated competition in the sector; I think that is something to celebrate.

We wanted to build a plastics recycling plant in London and when the Olympic bid was put together, they said that they wanted it to be a green Games and this plant was included as part of that bid. The Closed Loop facility is one cog in that wheel.

Closed Loops 18 million plant began operating in 2008, and was one of the first in the world to produce food-grade recycled PET, which has been sold on to companies including Marks & Spencer and Coca Cola.

Commenting on the plans, Mr Clegg said: I congratulate Closed Loop Recycling on its success in plastics purification and encouraging recycling especially during the Olympics. I warmly welcome its expansion plans, which are an excellent reflection of the strength of the UK market for low-carbon and environmental goods and services.