Originally due to be operational in 2018, Project Beacon will see three companies including Recycling Technologies work together to “chemically recycle” plastics to make new material or other chemical products.
The project has been delayed a number of times since then. The most recent prior to today was due to an engineering review launched by Zero Waste Scotland, which has invested around £2 million into the project (see letsrecycle.com story).
This review successfully concluded in January 2021, when the company said the plant would be operational by the end of this year.
However, this has now been pushed back by a further year.
A spokesperson for Recycling Technologies said: “We have been assembling the plant at our offices in Swindon and the site is being prepared at Binn Farm. We’ve reviewed the timeline of the project given the unprecedented impact that Covid has presented to businesses globally. The plan is now to complete the build in 2022.”
Chemical recycling
The three companies involved in the process are PI Polymer Recycling, Recycling Technologies and Impact Recycling.
Recycling Technologies is behind the RT7000 machine which, says the company, turns unrecyclable plastics such as crisp packets and black plastics back into an oil which can be used in the shipping industry.
Impact Recycling was formed out of BP Chemicals and says it has over 40 years’ experience in the plastics industry. The company notes that through its research and innovation, it developed a “density separation technology” to recycle mixed polyolefins.
In the near future, councils would be able collect all plastic in one bin – Zero Waste Scotland in 2018
Public
The project is significant for Scottish local authorities.
Zero Waste Scotland explained in 2018: “The beauty of Project Beacon is that, in the near future, councils would be able collect ‘all plastic in one bin’ at the kerbside, secure in the knowledge that the technologies and capacity exist to genuinely recycle these plastics, thus removing, the uncertainty many people feel over what plastics can and cannot be recycled at home.”
Accounts
Recycling Technologies published its accounts for 2020 in May.
It explained that the company “is in the process of securing the circa £40 million of additional investment needed to ensure sufficient cash is available to provide the minimum required working capital to sustain the business” beyond 2022.
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