BPI makes £multi-million investment into Welsh plant

Local business British Polythene Industries (BPI) PLC has made a £4.5 million investment at its Rhymney, South Wales site, helping to boost the local economy and creating 20 additional jobs. The business has commissioned a brand new, state-of-the-art wash plant at the factory which will further strengthen the company’s position as Europe’s largest polythene waste recycler.

The new wash plant – which was officially unveiled on the 9th March 2012 at a ceremony attended by Huw Lewis, Assembly Minister for Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney, Cllr Allan Pritchard, leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, and Cllr Vera Williams, Mayor of Caerphilly – is the largest of its kind in the UK and possibly in Europe. It will allow BPI to recycle an additional 25,000 tonnes of waste material each year, increasing its overall capacity from 70,000 tonnes to 95,000 tonnes per annum.

In addition to being one of the largest of its kind in Europe, the new wash plant is also one of the greenest. It employs features such as low energy, high output motors, energy saving lighting and rainwater harvesting to replace the water it loses each day. To deliver these impressive environmental credentials as well as superior levels of performance, BPI had the plant built to a totally bespoke specification.

The upgraded Rhymney plant will further enhance BPI’s network of strategically located recycling facilities across the UK. In particular, it will focus on waste from the agricultural and horticultural sector, complementing BPI’s other dedicated agricultural waste recycling facility in Dumfries – previously the country’s largest, most advanced and only waste farm polythene recycling facility until the Rhymney investment.

Prior to the opening of the new plant, there were no facilities in Wales for recycling waste farm plastics such as agricultural and silage films. Up to 20,000 tonnes of this material is generated from Welsh agricultural and horticultural business’ every year and much of it so heavily contaminated with soil, sand and other contaminants that other recyclers in Britain either don’t have the technology to recycle it or prefer not to in favour of cleaner forms of scrap.

As a result, much of it is exported to countries like Vietnam and Malaysia where it is often recycled using primitive, manual techniques that cause damage to the local environment. An unacceptably high volume of waste farm polythene in the UK is also still being sent to landfill or worse still, illegally burnt.

Commenting on the Rhymney wash plant investment, Gerry McGarry, Business Director, said: “BPI has a strong commitment to the highest levels of sustainability and has focused on employing greener products and greener working practices for over 25 years.

“It's for this reason that we have invested into the new wash plant at Rhymney. It will not only create additional jobs but will also help to secure the long term future of our already existing recycling and manufacturing facilities, bringing major benefits to the local area as well as to Welsh recycling and the environment as a whole.”

Assembly Minister for Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney, Huw Lewis added: “I was delighted to officially open the new facility at BPI Recycled Products, Rhymney. It is a clear sign of the company’s confidence in the community and our excellent local workforce. 

“BPI’s investment is good news for Rhymney, good news for Welsh farmers and good news for the environment and I look forward to watching the progress of the factory over the weeks, months and years to come.”

- ENDS -

Images & Caption:    bpi Rhymney wash plant 1.jpg; Awash with advantages. To further strengthen its position as Europe’s largest polythene waste recycler, BPI has invested £4.5million into a new waste wash plant at its Rhymney, South Wales site.                                    

bpi Rhymney launch.jpg; L-R: Ed Bailey, President, NFU Cymru, Huw Lewis, AM Merthyr Tydfill & Rhymney, Cameron McLatchie, Chairman, BPI and Emyr Jones, President, Farmers Union of Wales. 

For more information on this story, contact Wayne Mohammed or Emma Macey at PRECISION on 0161 638 8717 / 8718 or e-mail: wayne@precision-online.co.uk/ emma@precision-online.co.uk

Editors’ notes:

• British Polythene Industries (BPI) is a leading European supplier of polythene film products.

• BPI is the largest recycler of polythene film waste in Europe recycling over 70,000 tonnes of post-use polythene material from commercial, retail, industrial and agricultural markets.

• BPI is a global supplier of high performing agricultural and horticultural films to over 60 counties worldwide from manufacturing sites in the UK, Belgium and Canada.

• The BPI Group is a major supplier of packaging for the protection of food and other goods.

• BPI's products, which are marketed under well-known and established brand names including Visqueen™ (construction films), Silotite® (silage stretch film), Green Sack® (100% recycled refuse sacks) and Supreme™ (stretchwrap) provide high performing, cost-effective polythene solutions across a range of industries.

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