The Welsh Government-backed plastic bottle sorting facility at Blackwood, South Wales is to start operations again later this month although it is understood not to have been operational since late December.
Irish-owned plastic recycling firm Viridis Plastics UK Ltd bought the facility with the aid of a loan for an undisclosed sum from the Welsh Government in May 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story), after the previous owners of the plant Plastics Sorting Limited were placed into administration in February 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Upon purchasing the 91,500 sq ft site as well as machinery for sorting, washing and chipping PET flake in May, Viridis stated that it aimed to become an industry leader in the development of recycled PET.
Christmas
However, when letsrecycle.com visited the site on Tuesday this week the plant was closed and no Viridis employees were present. And, site security and employees at neighbouring units said that they had not seen anyone at the site since before Christmas.
Adding anair of uncertainty to the situation, the landlord of the site, property development firm Richard Hayward Properties currently has Unit 1, the unit housing Viridis Plastics, as available on its website.
Full capacity
‘The plant has not been operating as usual due to our restructuring but we have a considerable amount of stock and aim to meet client orders.’
Padraig Shine, director, Viridis Plastics UK Ltd
However, today Irish businessman Padraig Shine, director of Viridis Plastics UK, denied any suggestion that the plant was shutting down and explained that it had been running at a reduced capacity since the middle of December as the company is in the process of financial restructuring and that he hoped that the plant will be operating at full capacity by the end of the month.
He said: The plant has not been operating as usual due to our restructuring but we have a considerable amount of stock and aim to meet client orders. What I am trying to do is to put a business in place that is going to be profitable going forward.
Funding
He also commented that the company may look to secure funding from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to invest further in the plant.
The facility was first opened in April 2010, and was set up with around 1.3 million funding from the Welsh Government, as well as a loan of 625,000 from the Kent-based Charity Bank. Upon opening in 2010 it was hailed as a landmark investment and was at one time described as the largest sorting facility for PET bottles in the UK.
A Welsh Government spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “The Welsh Government provided Viridis Plastics UK Ltd with Repayable Business Finance support and continues to work with the company to secure a sustainable, long-term future for the plant at Blackwood.
“Any offer, following appropriate due diligence, made by the Welsh Government to support a company has strict terms and conditions associated with it. Once an offer has been made, monitoring is carried out to ensure these conditions are fully met and evidenced before any payment is made.”
Subscribe for free