The Swindon-based company announced the deals with global commodity trader Interchem, and Kerax Limited, a wax manufacturer. The two deals are worth £50 million and £15 million respectively for the forward sale of its chemical and wax output.
RT7000
Recycling Technologies called its machine RT7000, which it says can “chemically recycle” all plastics including black food trays, crisp packets and coffee cups back into oil.
The system involves shredding material, which is injected into a fluidised bed where polymers are broken down by pyrolysis [high temperature decomposition] to form a gas.
The gas is then filtered, cooled and condensed to form what the company has called ‘Plaxx’. This, it explained, can be used to make new plastic products or as shipping fuel which, says Recycling Technologies, has a value of more than £300 a tonne.
Zero Waste Scotland gave £1 million of funding ahead of its roll-out in Scotland later this year. The machine components will be built in Swindon and transported to Scotland. The Scotland plant will produce 7,000 tonnes of material dry weight and use 9,000 tonnes of post-consumer plastic.
The Zero Waste Scotland grant came as the company plans to build its first fully operational plant on a site owned by the Binn Group in Perth by the end of 2018.
Deals
The relationship with InterChem includes an equity investment of £1m (announced in April 2018) and the forward sale of £50m of the polymer proportion of Plaxx over the next five years.
The deal means that Recycling Technologies has now agreed to sell all of the output from its machine, which had a pilot scheme in Swindon but is now due to be rolled out in Scotland.
The deal with Kerax Limited, a European manufacturer of waxes, is for the forward sale of the wax proportion of Plaxx.
Kerax’s chief executive, Ian Appleton, is a personal investor in Recycling Technologies, and Kerax was described as an “enthusiastic supporter of Recycling Technologies from an early stage”.
Commenting on the deals, Recycling Technologies chief executive Adrian Griffiths said a wide range of support has helped his company recycle plastic that is otherwise difficult to process.
“With the support of BEIS, Swindon Borough Council, Zero Waste Scotland and our investors, we have been able to develop the technology that recycles even the difficult plastic packaging wastes, crisp packets, black trays and laminated materials,” Mr Griffiths explained.
He added: “These partnerships secure the commercial outlet for Plaxx, making all waste plastic packaging valuable material. We are particularly excited that polymer manufacturers can use this material to produce more plastic, significantly boosting the circular economy credentials of plastic.”
The deals means that the output from the first 12 RT7000 machines to be installed in the UK and Northern Europe has now been sold.
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