Recycling firm chooses NW for new £12m facility

A pioneering recycling company is to invest £12m in a new plastic bottle recycling plant on Deeside, near Chester.

Closed Loop Recycling is the first company in the UK capable of recycling waste plastic bottles back into food packaging material.

Its first plant opened in London in June. The Chester plant will be only the second of its kind in the UK and will create up to 50 jobs.

The move to open the second plant is backed by private equity investment from the Foresight Group and around £1m in public sector funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

The facility will take 50,000 tonnes of water, milk and other soft drinks bottles each year and turn them into recycled raw material for new food and drink packaging.

Managing director Chris Dow said the plant should enable an increase in plastic recycling rates in Northwest England and North Wales.

"This new venture is further evidence the UK is undergoing a recycling revolution. The industry is beginning to view recycled plastic in a new light. It's no longer waste. It's becoming a valuable resource. We believe we are pioneering the future in packaging solutions," said Dow.