Ecosurety assist development of new advanced plastic recycling plant

On completion the new recycling site will recycle 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, currently considered “unrecyclable”. Leading up to the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, ReNew ELP have formed an agreement with Ecosurety, one of the UK’s leading producer responsibility compliance schemes, for technical support and expertise in securing Environment Agency reprocessor accreditation, as well as auditing and management of data in the National Packaging Waste Database.

Ecosurety will also assist with the issuing of recycling evidence known as Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) by ReNew ELP. By working with Ecosurety, ReNew ELP also hope to encourage the recycling of flexible plastic materials from Front of Store (FoS) collections via the Flexible Plastic Fund led by Ecosurety, which encourages collection of post-consumer flexible plastic packaging at stores and is funded by a number of international brands.

An agreement with Geminor will also see at least 15,000 tonnes of PE and PP rich plastic feedstock diverted away from incineration and into recycling per year, making up the majority of the feedstock supply for the first 20,000 tonnes per annum phase of the 80,000 annual tonnes per annum ReNew ELP project. 

A UK recycling solution

The advanced recycling estimated to save approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of waste recycled when compared to incineration, whilst diverting waste plastic away from environmental pollution. All feedstock will be sourced from within the UK, reducing need to export plastic waste to the EU and beyond.  

ReNew ELP is the first plant to use HydroPRS™, an advanced recycling solution that uses supercritical water to convert waste plastics into shorter chain hydrocarbon products, the equivalent of fossil resource, for use in the manufacture of feedstocks to create new plastics.

The first phase of the project will see the construction of one of four recycling lines, each able to process 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, due into operation by the end of 2022 - the remaining three lines will follow in quick succession.

Target waste plastic feedstock is post-consumer, contaminated plastic packaging, including flexible materials such as films, pots, tubs and trays which – until now - have been considered unrecyclable. There is no limit to the number of times the same plastic can be recycled using HydroPRS™.

Sandeep Attwal, Procurement Manager at Ecosurety Limited commented “Ecosurety are delighted to be working with ReNew ELP and supporting on this exciting sustainability project, which will ensure that more plastic packaging waste is recycled in the UK rather than incinerated or exported.”

If you would like to know more about this partnership, please contact our team.

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