Ground-breaking South West project sees Pennon power plastic recycling with non-recyclable waste

The Pennon Group has announced a ground-breaking project which will harness the electricity created non-recyclable waste at its £252 million energy recovery facility near Bristol, to power a new £65 million plastic recycling plant.

In year one, the UK’s biggest multi-polymer plant will produce 60 KTPA of recycled plastic a year from 81 KTPA feedstock, which will rise to 89 KTPA in year three, producing 63 KTPA of recycled material.

The new plastics recycling plant will be powered by energy created which uses non-recyclable waste as its fuel, creating a true circular economy energy park.

Chris Loughlin, Pennon’s CEO, said: “Pennon is dedicated to working in ever-more sustainable ways and we are extremely excited to be announcing this first-of-its-kind investment in plastics recycling.”

“By using waste which cannot be recycled as the fuel to create low carbon electricity which will power plastics recycling we a creating a truly resource and energy-efficient waste management solution.”

“There is a clear ambition from both UK consumers and politicians to improve recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste which is sent to export. Our research shows that 80 per cent of people believe the UK should find a way to deal with its own recycling without having to ship it to other countries.”

“Unless action is taken now and investment in infrastructure is made, a plastic recycling capacity gap will undermine UK ambitions and the sustainability targets of retailers and the big consumer brands. We are, therefore, delighted to be leading the way.”