Wednesday 13 October 2021

‘UK’s first’ £165m plastic recycling plant hits application status

Peel NRE has lodged a planning application for the UK’s first £165 million ‘Plastic Park’ which will be based near Ellesmere Port.

The site would be setup to tackle Britain’s 4.9 million tonnes of plastic waste and is projected to create 150 jobs.

Its application follows a public consultation in which most respondents stated the UK needed more plastic recycling facilities.

The country’s first plastic to hydrogen facility and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling plant for items such as plastic bottles have both already been approved at the ‘Plastic Park’ and Peel NRE are now looking to expand the site to recycle an extra 367,000 tonnes of plastic.

The ‘Plastic Park’ would save more than 190,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year when compared with landfill.

Cheshire West and Chester Council will provide a decision on the application early next year.

Richard Barker, Development Director at Peel L&P, said: "Currently only around a third of the 4.9 million tonnes of plastic that the UK throws away each year is recycled, meaning we urgently need new infrastructure.

"Our first Plastic Park will be at our flagship strategic energy and resource hub, Protos. It will bring together a range of technologies each designed to maximise the value we can get from plastic waste.

"With front end sorting we can make sure that as much plastic as possible is recycled and then use innovative technologies to either create fuels, such as hydrogen, or new products from what’s left.

"We can take any type of plastic, whether it’s been mixed or separated, so it’s a simple solution for local councils."