New £multi-million horticultural waste plastic recycling facility unveiled

The horticultural industry’s ability to dispose of its polythene waste in a greener way is set to receive a welcome boost thanks to bpi.recycled products. The business - which already ranks as Europe’s largest polythene recycler recycling some 70,000 tonnes of material per annum – has just commissioned a brand new, state-of-the-art agricultural waste wash plant at its Rhymney factory in South Wales.

Waste farm plastic continues to be a major problem for British farmers and growers with up to 80,000 tonnes of this material generated annually. Currently, there isn’t sufficient capacity in the UK to recycle all of this material and as a result much of it is exported to countries like Vietnam and Malaysia where it is often recycled using primitive techniques that damage 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.

bpi.recycled products new wash plant will help to reduce these undesirable methods of waste management. Representing an investment of £4.5 million, it will be the largest wash plant of its kind in the country and will enable bpi.recycled products to recycle an additional 25,000 tonnes of material - such as horticultural films and used silage balewrap– each year. This waste will be used to create new products such as refuse sacks, outdoor furniture and building films.

In addition to being the largest facility of its kind in the country, the new wash plant will also be the greenest. To maximise its efficiency and reduce its impact on the environment, it employs features such as low energy, high output motors, energy saving lighting and rainwater harvesting to replace the water lost each day.

The new plant, which complements an existing agricultural farm waste polythene recycling facility operated by bpi.recycled products in Dumfries, was officially unveiled on 9th March 2012. Those attending the opening ceremony included Ed Bailey, President of NFU Cymru and Emyr Jones, President of the Farmers’ Union of Wales as well as representatives from the Environment Agency and DEFRA.

Commenting on the new plant, Gerry McGarry, Business Director at bpi.recycled products said: “At bpi.recycled products, we’re committed to facilitating more efficient, more sustainable means of UK-based recycling as well as to providing closed loop solutions wherever possible. The new plant at Rhymney will help to increase our already extensive recycling capabilities, bringing major benefits not only to our business, but also to UK agricultural recycling and to the environment as a whole.”

NFU Cymru President Ed Bailey said: “It is good to see companies in Wales such as BPI investing in state-of-the-art recycling technology, which helps to reduce environmental impact and means that materials can be re-used effectively in the agricultural industry. We wish good luck to BPI and all enterprising companies whose managements adopt such positive attitudes towards environment and sustainability issues and who have the faith to invest in Wales and Welsh agriculture.”

Emyr Jones, President of the Farmers’ Union of Wales, added: “The disposal of farm plastics is extremely important for livestock farmers and the opening of the new BPI plant in Wales should make recycling waste plastics more cost effective for farmers as well as making a significant contribution towards ‘greening’ as a greater proportion of this material can now be recycled within the UK.”

To most in the horticultural industry, the bpi name will already be a familiar one. bpi.recycled products’ sister business, bpi.visqueen is a leading manufacturer of horticultural films.

- 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.recycled products 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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