Name-change to highlight Berry’s recycling leadership

Berry Global’s Cambridgeshire-based recycling operation Plasgran is to be renamed as Berry Circular Polymers, alongside the company’s soon-to-be-opened new recycling facility in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

The new name is designed to reflect Berry’s leadership in recycling and the development and securing of circular polymers. This will support the move towards a circular and net zero economy, according to Berry, for which the company has targeted 30 per cent circular plastic use across its fast-moving consumer goods packaging by 2030.

Established in 1999, Plasgran is one of the UK’s leading recyclers of rigid plastics. The company’s advanced technical facilities provide compounds and regrinds for customers across the UK and Europe, creating custom formulations, such as colour matching or improved impact strength, to meet specific requirements.

The Leamington Spa facility, which is due to open later this year, will utilise Berry’s CleanStream technology, the world's first closed-loop system to mechanically process domestically recovered household waste polypropylene back into food-grade packaging. CleanStream has recently been granted a Letter of No Objection (LNO) from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). This confirms that the post-consumer recycled (PCR) PP produced by the process can be used in levels up to 100 per cent recycled content for food contact applications.

MD Jeremy Blake said: “The launch of Berry Circular Polymers brings together our advanced rigid plastics recycling facilities. Our technical expertise and experience will enable us to deliver recycled material of high quality and consistency to support our customers’ drive for sustainable solutions.”

Together with its UK and European film recycling facilities in Dumfries, Heanor, Rhymney (UK) and Steinfeld (Germany), Berry counts itself among the largest plastics recyclers in Europe, with the ability to handle up to 200,000 tonnes of material annually.