ECO Plastics and Viridor, the UK’s leading recycler, have jointly announced a 12-month multi-million pound contract to help ‘close the loop’ in soft drinks packaging.
According to the agreement, Viridor will supply 10,000 tonnes of plastic bottles throughout 2014 – almost 8% of ECO Plastics’ total capacity – for reprocessing at the ECO Plastics facility in Lincolnshire, England.
With the capacity to sort 150,000 tonnes of mixed plastics, the ECO Plastics Hemswell facility is responsible for reprocessing 35% of the bottles collected in the UK every year.
According to ECO Plastics, the move follows a trend that has seen a growing portion of the industry move away from spot trading to developing long-term collaborations instead – giving increased surety for companies such as ACO Plastics to invest more in new technology.
The company plans to increase the proportion of its feedstock being supplied through longer partnerships to 70%, from a current level of 35%, by the end of 2014.
ECO Plastics deputy chairman Jonathan Short comments: “As it becomes more and more difficult to export our waste material overseas, we’re left with a choice between building new infrastructure and going back to landfill.
“We see an industry-wide move to longer agreements as the fundamental to resolving that dilemma.”
Herman van der Meij, director of Viridor Resource Management, says: “This deal shows leading businesses working together across the value chain, from goods manufacturing, retail, collection and sorting to reprocessing and remanufacture.”
