The deal, which was completed before recovered material prices took a nose-dive in the last two weeks, will see AWS supply Nampak with the 12,000 tonnes of food grade recycled plastic each year in order to help it increase the recycled content in its milk bottles.
Jonathan Short, chief executive of AWS, said: “This is a major breakthrough for AWS and for the whole recycling industry. It follows months of negotiation with Nampak. Until very recently, no-one in the UK has been able to produce recycled plastic in any sizable quantity which was clean enough and odour-free to be turned into food or drink packaging.”
Investment
AWS's Hemswell facility, which has undergone transformations to its capacity following £14 million investment, produces optically sorted washed HDPE flake, and is now capable of processing 100,000 tonnes of plastic bottles a year. From the beginning of next year it will be able to produce food grade recycled HDPE, which will allow milk bottles to be recycled back into milk bottles.
Mr Short said: “This is something supermarkets and food manufacturers have been seeking for some time as they try to meet their recycling targets and demonstrate their commitment to improve environmental performance.”
The deal with Nampak is the second supply contract secured by AWS following the capital investment programme, having signed a deal worth £11 million a year two weeks ago to supply Wrexham-based Artenius PET Packaging Europe with food grade recycled pellet. (see letsrecycle.com story)
Nampak
Nampak intends to use the recovered material to achieve its commitment to producing all its UK manufactured HPDE milk bottles with up to 30% recycled content during 2010.
James Crick, business development director at Nampak, said: “This is a landmark partnership for us and for the future of HDPE milk bottles. By providing the necessary rHDPE tonnages for the production of up to 30% recycled content bottles, the contract with AWS will enable Nampak to meet Defra's Milk Roadmap medium range target for recycled content in milk packaging significantly ahead of time.”
“The positive climate surrounding milk bottle recycling will be strengthened by this partnership announcement, which will also build the green credentials of a product that is a firm consumer favourite,” he added.
Nampak already has supply contracts in place with Closed Loop London and Greenstar, which cater for 6,000 tonnes of food grade recycled pellet per annum, and enable Nampak to reach its 2009 target of 10% recycled content in milk bottles.
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