Axion, which is majority-owned by metal recycling firm S Norton & Co Ltd, announced in August that its new plant in Salford will be running at full capacity by February 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story).
 Axion Recycling is selling itself to electronics producers as a UK-based market for WEEE plastics |
The company's new facility turns waste plastic back into a high-grade compound which it then sells to companies that produce plastic products including television casings, piping, toys and plastic drums.
Axion has already been running trials on its end product, including work with electronics manufacturer Brother in which it said the recycled plastic performed to the same specification as virgin plastic traditionally used by the IT hardware firm.
But the company is now seeking more contacts with waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) dismantlers, as well as companies that could have a use for the recycled plastic.
Roger Morton, Axion's commercial director, told letsrecycle.com: “We are looking to run further trials with other manufacturers and we are hoping to get hold of more material from primary WEEE sources.”
Risks
Mr Morton said that there had been a lot of interest in his new plant, and he believed that this was because electronics producers are worried about the risks of sending materials abroad.
“There is a reputation risk if your products turn up being sorted by children in China,” he explained. “Many producers and their compliance schemes are looking to ensure that material stays in the UK, or at least in Europe.”
And Mr Morton believes that when the WEEE Directive comes into force next year there will be the facilities in the UK to ensure that WEEE treatment facilities do not need to send waste to the Far East.
He said: “The expertise, capability and facilities exist here in the UK to extract high grade polymers for recycling back into new products for home markets. This is a far more sustainable alternative to exporting it.”
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