letsrecycle.com

Closed Loop chases 30m funding to fuel expansion

By Chris Sloley 

Plastics recycling firm Closed Loop has today (July 28) outlined ambitious expansion plans, which could see the firm developing five plastics recycling plants across the UK.

Closed Loop managing director Chris Dow has no doubts over ensuring feedstock for the expansion of the plastic recycling firm
Closed Loop managing director Chris Dow has no doubts over ensuring feedstock for the expansion of the plastic recycling firm
The company, which already operates a flagship 35,000 tonnes-a-year capacity facility in East London, has brought financial advisers UBS on board in an effort to raise £30 million of funding for a facility on Deeside which is the next site in Closed Loop's expansion plans.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Chris Dow, managing director of Closed Loop, said that the company would be targeting conurbations for the developments, he said: “We are looking for up to five plants and they would be situated throughout the UK to ensure that we are able to regionally close the loop.”

Plans for the roll-out, which could see a further five plants developed, come as Closed Loop looks to make headway on its planned 50,000 tonnes-a-year capacity plant at Deeside in North Wales, which would reprocess plastic bottles into material suitable for new bottles and food grade plastic.

Work on the new plant, which was announced in September 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story) is expected to begin early next year, with rPET and rHDPE production expected to commence at the end of 2011.

A spokeswoman for Closed Loop confirmed that support for the Deeside plant may also come from the Welsh Assembly Government.  

Feedstock

In addition to outlining the new plans, Mr Dow also stressed that there would be enough feedstock in the UK market to sustain the development of further plants. He said that the company would look to exploit material being lost overseas to reprocessors and recyclers.

“There are 216,000 tonnes of bottles out there, according to Recoup, but what we have got is a situation where 70% of those bottles are believed to be exported.”

The impact of the export market on the domestic plastic recycling sector has been a bugbear for Mr Dow, who has lobbied government for tighter controls on material being sent abroad for reprocessing (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, earlier this month, he met with business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk to discuss the issue and voice concerns about losing “1,000 low-carbon, green jobs” to other markets with the increased dependence on export.

“I have had many discussions with both Defra and the Environment Agency and I believe this is having a negative impact on the growth of the UK recycling sector and it needs ministerial action,” said Mr Dow. “Ministers need to see what is going on here.”

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