Recresco – formerly known as Midland Glass – introduced a nationwide plastic bottle collection scheme for local authorities in 2003 and now provides plastic bottle collection services for 14 councils.
The company aims to make plastic bottle recycling more economically viable with a collection system that vacuums bottles out of specially-designed bring banks before crushing the bottles in the collection vehicles.
 The Recresco system uses a vacuum to collect plastic bottles from bring banks, before crushing the bottles within collection vehicles |
Wolverhampton and Walsall councils have both signed one year rolling contracts with Recresco, with residents keen to recycle their plastic bottles. The service began earlier this month with collected bottles going to Recresco's plant in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Councillor Macro Longhi, cabinet member for environment at Walsall, said: “Walsall council is committed to helping residents to recycle as much as possible and we recognise that some citizens are keen to start recycling plastic bottles.
“Whilst it is not practical to collect plastics in the council's green boxes, mainly because of the large size of the bottles, we were determined to add another type of recyclable material to the range we process at our recycling centres,” he added.
Banks
As part of the scheme Recresco installs 100kg plastic bottle collection banks which it will empty as and when the council needs. Each bank has three ports, one situated lower than the others specifically for children and persons with mobility difficulties. The banks are emptied on site via the company's vacuum system and compacted in a collection vehicle.
The vehicles each contain a puncture system which allows the bottles to be “comprehensively” crushed, with each vehicle able to transport up to five tonnes of plastic bottles.
The bottles are taken to Recresco's recycling facility at Kirkby in Ashfield, where the bottles are sorted optically before being baled for sale abroad. The site has the capacity to process about 50,000 tonnes of glass and plastic, with an additional 20,000 tonnes of spare capacity available if the demand warrants it, the company said.
Graham Gent, managing director of Recresco, said: “An important element to the company's growth was to add the recycling of plastic bottles to the range of services we provide. The collection of plastic bottles is a real challenge to a large number of authorities and we are delighted to have developed a cost effective solution.”
Councils
As well as the bring bank plastic bottle service, Walsall metropolitan borough council is completing its rollout of its green box kerbside recycling service this week. About 95% of Walsall households – about 101,000 homes – will be provided with the service, which picks up paper, glass and cans every fortnight.
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Walsall is aiming to hit a government target to recycle 24% of household waste by 2005/06. The council recycled 15% of household waste in 2003/04.
Wolverhampton city council is currently rolling out a kerbside collection service that will pick up paper, cans and glass in green boxes, with garden waste in green wheeled bins. The council recycled just 9% of household waste in 2003/04 and is to reach a target of 18% by 2005/06.
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