This plastic will be processed at Closed Loop London's £13 million Dagenham plant due to open in December. Nampak aims to use the recycled material as much as possible in the two billion plastic bottles it manufactures.
Nampak's first bottles are expected to go on sale in summer 2008 and will have a 10% recycled content. This initial bottle will be a forerunner to a 30% recycled content bottle currently being developed by Nampak, which it hopes to mass produce in 2009.
The company's commercial director James Crick said: “This is a landmark deal for HDPE and marks the start of an environmental revolution in plastic milk bottles. The agreement with Closed Loop London will make recycled content HDPE bottles widely available in the UK for the first time.”
Trial
Nampak's announcement comes after a year of development including a trial completed earlier this year. The pilot involved selling 60,000 four-pint recycled milk bottles to Marks and Spencer customers and was deemed a success because of their acceptance by shoppers (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Crick said: “Our recent consumer research highlighted the popularity of HDPE milk bottles for their strength and practicality. The contract with Closed Loop London allows us to improve the green credentials of a product that is already a firm consumer favourite.”
Closed Loop London's managing director, Chris Dow added: “We hope that the creation of an environmentally sound end market opportunity for recycled HDPE will actively encourage full Government support for consistent milk bottle collection across all kerbside collection schemes – making it the sensible and simple solution for all consumers wanting to recycle their used milk bottles.”
Nampak's bid to beat the competition to the supermarket shelves follows Redcar-based recycling company Waste Exchange Services' announcement yesterday (July 31, 2007) that it would be the first first UK company to recycle food grade HDPE milk bottles back into milk bottles (see letsrecycle.com story).
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