The tender process for the grant, which was launched earlier this year, has now reached the point where a “preferred bidder has been selected,” confirmed Paul Davidson, WRAP’s materials sector manager for plastics. But, WRAP is still working through the assessment process so has not released further details.
The grant will help fund a “processing infrastructure to divert 20,000 tonnes of plastic bottles from the waste stream,” with WRAP providing “the successful bidder with a level of support of up to 50% of the total value of the project.” The new capacity, according to WRAP, will come on stream during 2003, and reach full capacity by 2005
There has been stiff competition for the preferred bidder status. It is known that plastics recycler Delleve had proposed a plant in the north west of England. Other waste management firms had also considered applying but the volume of source material available was an issue in some cases.
It is expected that Cleanaway, should it win the grant, will consider developing a plastics reprocessing infrastructure at its Rainham site in Essex. This benefits from a combination of Cleanaway’s existing plastic sorting facilities at its MRF and its location near to the the densely populated Essex and London regions. Cleanaway could partner with a plastic recycling firm as part of the WRAP tender process in order to guarantee a market for the collected and proccessed plastics.
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