The crushing device improves the collection capacity of each bank, reducing the cost of recovery. Financial support of 87,000 has come mainly from Waste Recycling Environmental, which administers and distributes the landfill tax credits of Waste Recycling Group.
Warrington council and packaging industry funders including Express Dairies, Arla Foods, Dairy Crest, Tetrapak and Plysu Liquid Foods, have provided 11 per cent of the funds needed.
Stuart Foster, project manager with Recoup, said: “We are expecting the scheme to perform particularly well in Warrington, as the number of letters and calls the council receives regarding plastics recycling shows that residents are highly motivated.”
Increased capacity
Recoup said that the compaction banks, supplied by manufacturer Plastic Omnium Urban Systems, could increase capacity by 75% above conventional bottle banks.
Warrington’s 20 plastic bottle banks are operated by a pedal, which compacts bottles placed in an opening before depositing them into the body of the container.
Mr Foster said: “We believe that the system will significantly reduce operational costs of servicing plastic bottle collection banks, with the additional environmental benefit of reduced vehicle movements.”
The system will be monitored for two years, leading to a detailed technical evaluation of whether it does give a more cost-effective method of recycling bottles
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