Luxus the UK's largest independent technical plastics recycling company, has invested half a million pounds in a new plastics processing line. It will deliver a further 8,000 tonnes of compound a year using 100 per cent recycled materials.
This increased capacity will enable Luxus to effectively meet the rapidly expanding European demand for sustainable product manufactured from recycled polymers.
Peter Atterby, Managing Director, Luxus explains: "Our new processing line will enable us to enhance the considerable volume of Polyethylene HD coloured compound we already deliver to Europe. While demand for our impact modified, UV stabilised coloured compounds has also outstripped out ability to supply in recent years. So this new investment will rebalance our ability to meet these markets.
"There are two key factors currently driving European growth: an increase in the segregation at source of the household waste stream requiring new bin types and an increase in the size of bins for recyclable waste, while general waste bins are getting smaller.
"There has also been increased demand from centralised community recycling collection schemes requiring larger four wheeled bins with a large 1,100 litre and above capacity."
While at home, Luxus has been working with local authorities since as far back as 1986, offering a revenue generating or no charge recycling closed loop service known as the 'Bin2Bin' scheme. This is where products at their end of their natural life are used as a resource to remanufacture the same product.
Peter Atterby said: "We simply purchase 'end of life' bins, which are then washed, shredded, granulated, formulated to bring the material back to the required specification, compounded and coloured for re-use into new bins. Some local authorities are accelerating the collection of varying waste streams to meet the European target, while others are only just introducing their first ever wheel bins."
The company expects the plastics processing to be further stimulated as literally billions of bins will soon be ready for recycling, having been in use from as far back as the 1980's providing a good source of future materials.
Peter Atterby, continues: "Unlike most recycling compounders, we are also able to produce wheel bin raw material from recycled plastics in a variety of colours including green, blue and brown. This means we are well placed to take advantage of these new and rapidly developing markets."
By 2014 Luxus expects to increase its turnover to £29 million, as a result of its continued investment in new processing technologies.