PRESS RELEASE

April 2011

bpi.recycled products demonstrates community commitment

bpi.recycled products is going to impressive lengths to demonstrate the strength of its commitment to being a community minded manufacturer. The business, which produces high performance refuse sacks, is playing an active role in a Communities First project.

Communities First is a Welsh Assembly Government flagship programme aimed at improving the living conditions and prospects of people in the most disadvantaged communities across Wales. Over a ten year period, it aims to coordinate support, funding and a range of initiatives in order to deliver lasting and positive results.

bpi.recycled products’ efforts have been spearheaded by its Rhymney, South Wales site. Working as part of the Rhymney First Communities Partnership, it has taken part in a number of activities, many of them targeting local school children.

Specifically, staff have taken time out to talk to pupils about the benefits and importance of recycling. The Rhymney site produces many of its products from recycled waste polythene, recycling over 11,000 tonnes of waste each year and contributing to bpi.recycled products’ position as the largest recycler of waste polythene in Europe.

The business has also run a series of school competitions. One asked local pupils to design a logo which will feature on a sign outside the Rhymney factory, whilst a second set schools the challenge of being the first to collect a tonne of waste polythene for recycling. Both competitions will see bpi.recycled products giving away items from its Plaswood range of recycled plastic furniture for use in the wining schools’ playgrounds.

More recently, the Rhymney site has also played host to a visit by 70 primary school pupils who were treated to a factory tour so they could witness firsthand the polythene recycling process. At the end of the day, the children were given souvenirs including free t-shirts, pencil case and pens.

As part of the Rhymney First Communities Partnership, bpi.recycled products has also planted additional trees around its Rhymney site to help screen it from view and donated bulbs to be planted throughout the local area.

Speaking of bpi.recycled products’ efforts, Steve Harris, manager of the Rhymney factory said: “We’re proud to be playing a part in the Rhymney First Communities Partnership. It’s a fantastic project which gives us the opportunity to create closer links with the local community and also to explain the importance of recycling to future generations.”

Richard Beasley, the Communities First Co-ordinator for the Rhymney Partnership, adds: ‘The partnership project between the local community and bpi.recycled products has been excellent. The business has shown great support for various activities over the past 12 months and we hope that this will continue for years to come. The environmental impact of waste is a huge problem and educating young people and the community at large in reusing and recycling waste is a small step towards improving the future for us all.”

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Images & captions:    

Rhymney tour.jpg - Putting the community first. Children from a local primary school witness the recycling process firsthand during a visit to bpi.recycled products’ Rhymney factory.

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

Editor’s notes:

• bpi.recycled products is the largest recycler of used polythene in Europe recycling over 70,000 tonnes of post-use polythene material from commercial, retail, industrial and agricultural markets.

• bpi.recycled products uses some of these materials to manufacture its award winning Plaswood range of sustainable wood-substitute products. These products include park and garden furniture, street and countryside signs, bollards and marine decking.

• The environmental benefits of recycling plastic are becoming more widely recognised: maximising reusable material, diverting waste from landfill and conserving resources. bpi.recycled products has developed the necessary expertise and the infrastructure in the form of a network of Environment Agency accredited recycling plants to help drive these benefits forward.

• bpi.recycled products is a division of BPI (British Polythene Industries) plc, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of polythene films, bags and sacks.

• As a result of its commitment to operating in a sustainable way and to minimising the environmental impact of all of its activities, BPI won the Best Green Large Company category at the 2010 Scottish Green Awards.

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