SUSTAINABLE fresh food protective packaging company Klöckner Pentaplast and Viridor, recycling and waste management company, have agreed an annual supply of 8,000 tonnes of post-consumer recycled PET.
PET, which stands for polyethylene terephthalate, is a form of polyester, just like the clothing fabric.
It is extruded or moulded into plastic bottles and containers for packaging foods and beverages and personal care products, among many other items.
The five-year agreement will be carried out at Viridor’s new £65m Avonmouth Resource Recovery Centre.
Simon Hicks, Viridor’s Managing Director of Recycling, commented on the continued partnership between the two companies: “Viridor has listened to the feedback it has received in its annual UK Recycling Index which tracks public sentiment on recycling.
“UK residents want their recycling efforts at home rewarded with clear evidence that plastic which has been designed to be recyclable and can be returned to the economy. This is what the partnership with Klöckner Pentaplast will accomplish.
“We will continue to encourage depositing the Right Stuff in the Right Bin and we, at Viridor, will then ensure that UK plastic is given another life. It need not be, single use.”
In the first two years, Viridor’s largest UK multi-polymer processing plant will produce 60 kilo-tonnes of recycled plastics from 81KT/year feedstock consisting of 1.6 billion bottles, pots, tubs and trays.
With the plan to raise volume to 63KT from 1.7 billion bottles, pots, tubs and trays in year three, increasing volume year on year.
From this, 8,000 tonnes a year of the recovered and processed post-consumer recycled PET will be supplied to Klöckner Pentaplast.
Adam Barnett, President of the Food Packaging division at Klöckner Pentaplast, said: “We have celebrated the first successful year of our Positive Plastics Pledge and are proving that plastic is a valuable material and when managed responsibly through the right infrastructure, can be collected, sorted and recycled into sustainable, recyclable packaging, while maintaining food safety, security and ultimately preventing food waste.
“We are engaging consumers through our on-packaging messaging, advising them that the food they buy is packaged with protective material made from 100% recycled PET, and is recyclable.
“We also want to take our partnership with Viridor to the next level of circularity as we continue to meet our common goals in true closed loop tray to tray recycling.”
