Technowaste has been acquired by the Van Gansewinkel Group, and will be positioned in the Group's Coolrec portfolio.
The Basildon-based company hopes to bring the Coolrec recycling technology to the UK in time for the start of the producer responsibility requirements set by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, which are due to begin in the UK in January 2006.
– Catherine Wilson, Technowaste
As well as fridge processing plants, the Van Gansewinkel Group design and build their own recycling plants for the treatment of cathode ray tubes and small household appliances.
Technowaste, which currently deals with 15,000 tonnes of fridges per annum, has said that as part of the takeover CRT and small household appliance processing facilities will be installed this autumn in Basildon.
The company's fridge recycling capacity will also be increased, and Technowaste will also be bringing in “Europe's fastest growing cartridge recycling service”, the company said. Plans for new plants in North and West London are also being considered.
Future
Catherine Wilson, sales director of Technowaste, said: “We were the first company in the UK to recycle fridges, and from the outset were aware that future legislation would change electrical recycling in the UK forever.
“In the Netherlands the changes have largely taken place. Coolrec are acknowledged as one of the founders of fridge recycling in Europe, but it is not widely known that they are also number one in the EU's most well established and regulated WEEE market, where a WEEE take-back and recycling system has been in place since January 2000,” Ms Wilson added.
Technowaste are part of the European Advanced Recycling Network, which offer pan-European recycling solutions for both business to business and business to consumer requirements.
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