The fire broke out earlier this week (see letsrecycle.com story ) and AWS commercial director Duncan Oakes confirmed today that the fire service was still on site in damping down operations 
“Our message at the moment is that we are working around the situation and will be still be buying material in the marketplace and sourcing alternative outlets,” said Mr Oakes.
The good news, he said, was that of the three buildings at the plant – for sorting, washing and extrusion – only the sorting building was destroyed by the fire.
AWS has been a trader of plastics for many years and has this year developed a UK reprocessing facility and at the same time championed the idea of providing a UK outlet and reprocessing plant for bottle material.
Food grade
Commenting on the situation in the wake of the fire, Mr Oakes said: “A good part of the site is undestroyed including our hot washing facility and our food grade extruder which makes PET food grade flakes. We are fortunate because if the fire had hit this part of the site it would have taken up to 18 months to rebuild and re-equip.”
However, AWS is facing up to having to rebuild the sorting plant with its steel conveyors, sorters, balers and granulation equipment. It is understood that insurers have visited the site approval for the rebuild is expected and it is thought that the fire itself started as a small fire within an electrical fan which was tackled, but then embers spread into the roof of the building.
AWS has sent a letter to its suppliers asking for their cooperation and understanding and, said Mr Oakes, is in the process of arranging to use third parties to shred bottles which it will then put through the hot wash and flake plant at Hemswell.
Earlier this week the company received full approval for its flake from Artenius PET Packaging Europe, a large manufacturer of beverage bottles. This comes after AWS, which has its headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne received food grade certification for its PET flakes from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute.”
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