Biffa Opens £27.5m Plastic Recycling Plant in Seaham, County Durham

Biffa, a UK recycler and waste management provider, has opend its new £27.5million state of the art PET plastic bottle recycling facility in Seaham, County Durham.

It will be officially unveiled at an opening ceremony by Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

The investment in the new facility is part of the Group’s ongoing drive to invest in the UK’s recycling infrastructure to allow more waste to be recycled at home.

The plant is capable of converting 57,000 tonnes of PET plastic per year, equivalent to 1.3bn plastic bottles. PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is a commonly used material to package soft drinks, popular as it is lightweight, durable, and highly recyclable, producing significantly lower carbon emissions.

At Seaham, Biffa will convert PET back into high-purity plastic pellets to be sold on to drinks makers and other manufacturers to be used for a range of applications, from food and beverage packaging, to clothing.

Biffa believes the plant will play an important role in reducing plastic pollution in the UK by improving the country’s ability to recycle through sustainable closed loop systems.

The plant will provide 100 full time jobs in the region, building on Biffa’s established presence in the North where it already employs around 1,600 people.

The new facility, which is expected to generate £40m in revenues per year, is of strategic significance for Biffa as the Group continues to expand its nationwide recycling capabilities. The plant will capitalise on the access to plastic waste that Biffa has through its collections and sorting activities, including the 4.1m tonnes of waste & recycling the Group collects from UK households and businesses every year.

The facility also builds on Biffa’s existing capabilities in plastics recycling, including its plant in Redcar, North Yorkshire, where Biffa recycles HDPE plastic milk bottles back into food grade recycled HDPE, with 85% of milk bottles sold in the UK now containing Biffa recycled plastics.

Biffa has also announced a further investment in the North East of England. In the next 12 months Biffa will be building a £7m facility in Washington, which will expand its recycling capabilities for plastic tubs and trays. This will handle approximately 20,000 tonnes of plastic per year and create at least another 30 jobs.

Michael Topham, Biffa Chief Executive, said: “This facility will help the UK address two of its most pressing issues – plastic waste and the climate emergency. Whilst we must work towards reducing overall plastic consumption as a society, the fact remains that plastic has a vital role as a lightweight, durable, low energy-intensity material, that if recycled properly can have a sustainable role in modern life.”

“Facilities like ours at Seaham will help ensure that we can recycle our own plastic waste here in the UK, creating jobs in the green economy and stimulating the development of more sustainable packaging.”