Veolia invests £1m in Dagenham plant to boost plastic recycling

It says the investment follows an ‘increasing need and interest of manufacturers’ for recycled polymers

Veolia has announced it is investing an additional £1 million in its Dagenham facility to boost the recycling of plastics.

The new investment will provide a new granulator, a new processing kit and upgrade the washing process, allowing a 20% increase in the production of food grade pellets to 12,000 tonnes a year.

Food grade pellets is used in the production of products like new milk bottles.

Veolia says the investment follows an “increasing need and interest of manufacturers” – that are part of the UK’s voluntary Plastics Pact – for recycled polymers.

Launched by sustainability campaign group WRAP, the Pact aims to ensure 100% of plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable, 70% “effectively recycled or composted” and 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging by 2025.

Richard Kirkman, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Veolia said: “The UK Plastics Pact has given a boost to the industry that was needed to make plastic recycling a reality. Since the launch, we have seen demand increase and so we had to ensure our site was working efficiently to meet demand.

“This is an opportunity for an industry that is getting bad press to become sustainable and this investment shows our commitment to make this a reality. It will help to increase the amount the UK recycles and encourage recyclable materials and designs for products and discourage the use of harder to recycle options such as black plastic and polystyrene yoghurt pots.”

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