The company today officially opened its first plant at Rainham, with MP for Hornchurch James Brokenshire attending the opening.
Express Recycling will be collecting waste plastic – such as wheeled bins and milk crates – from local authorities around the UK. Eventually the plant will have three lines with an overall capacity of 60,000 tonnes per annum – it currently runs just one.
Dave Chesney, managing director at Express Recycling, told letsrecycle.com at the opening that the company had decided that the second plant, which is to start up in September, will take electronic waste such as computer monitor cases.
He said: “Local authorities and also compliance schemes will have a significant amount of WEEE derived plastic. There is a good market in mainland Europe and we are hoping to take advantage when it becomes more prevalent in the UK.”
Mr Chesney also explained that the third line may also handle WEEE, but that decision was yet to be taken.
The company have also begun putting plans in place for further sites elsewhere in the UK. The management team behind the facility has been so pleased with the response from local authorities and businesses in the South East of England that they already have plans to build four new facilities.
David Chesney, managing director at Express Recycling, added: “We hope that by setting up and becoming the largest reprocessor of plastics in Southern England we expect users of recyclate to be encouraged to set up operations in the region.”
The 2.1 million plant is the first in the UK to handle rigid plastic materials such as wheeled bins, milk crates and office equipment.
Using Dutch technology from company Envirotech, the plant will have a 60,000 tonnes per annum capacity, and Express Recycling will be employing 36 staff full-time.
The company received a 75,000 grant from the London Recycling Fund – the first major contract for the plant was signed with Kent-based Grosvenor Waste Management.
Mr Chesney added: “We are delighted that this facility has been officially launched today. We have already begun working with local authorities, London Remade and some waste management companies to assure material supply.
“The facility provides local authorities with the ability to deal with a waste stream not currently catered for in the region. With the UK consuming five million tonnes of plastic per annum and less than half a million tonnes being recycled we believe our facility will play an important role in preventing ever increasing quantities of hard plastic finding its way into the general waste stream,” he added.
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