Award-winning plastics recycling business Greenstar WES (www.thewesgroup.co.uk) hit new production records in December when it produced nearly 700 tonnes of food-grade recycled HDPE (r-HDPE) plastic flake, taking its overall 2009 production total to 5,900 tonnes.
Greenstar’s flake went into just over 140 million plastic milk bottles that were made in December with recycled content, over half of all plastic milk bottles produced that month. Its share rose further in January to around two thirds of all milk bottles (about 150 million bottles).
Around 564 tonnes of Greenstar WES’s December production of 689 tonnes of r-HDPE went to the dairy sector. The remaining 125 tonnes were used as recycled content in food trays destined for the shelves of some of Britain’s leading supermarkets. Production increased further in January, and around 600 tonnes are being supplied to milk bottle manufacturers.
Milk worth nearly a quarter billion
Plastic milk bottles are currently made with an average 10% of recycled food grade plastic. This means four grams of r-HDPE flake go into a 40 grams, two litre milk bottle. When filled, the December production run of 141 million bottles had an approximate retail value of up to £238 million, while the value of January’s production is estimated at between £238 million and £253 million. The average supermarket price of a two litre bottle of milk on 26th February varied between £1.59 and £1.69, according to comparison site www.mysupermarket.co.uk.
The UK dairy industry’s Milk Roadmap has a target of using 10% r-HDPE in plastic milk bottles by this year, increasing this proportion to 30% in five years, and to 50% by 2020.
Thanks to its world-leading technology innovation in processing plastics, Greenstar WES supplies much of its r-HDPE to packaging manufacturer Nampak Plastics that makes plastic milk bottles for the major supermarkets. Nampak will take 6,000 tonnes annually of Greenstar WES’s r-HDPE, and is looking to increase the recycled content of its bottles to 30%, in line with the Milk Roadmap.
Greenstar WES has consistently satisfied the high standards demanded by the UK’s three largest dairies – Arla, Dairy Crest and Wiseman – as well as all the major supermarket chains.
Greenstar WES also supplies r-HDPE to plastic food tray manufacturers which add between 10% and 20% recycled content to each new tray made. These are used for supermarket products such as whole and portioned chicken as well as mushrooms. Greenstar estimates its plastic has been used in around one billion poultry trays since August 2008.
A small amount of flake is also now being used by the manufacturers of branded cosmetics containers.
Greenstar WES founder and managing director James Donaldson said: “It’s fitting that we closed an outstanding year by hitting our highest production level - and then beat that in the first month of the new decade.
“The awards we won in 2009 have rewarded our technology innovation that has driven the development of plastic recycling in the UK, and Greenstar WES currently remains the largest producer of r-HDPE in the UK.”
Greenstar WES was the first in the world to develop and commercially apply the technology for converting plastic milk bottles from consumers’ bins into super clean, high grade r-HDPE flake. It has also just won a WRAP grant to set up the processing line for recycling 20,000 tonnes annually of mixed plastics (non-plastic bottle household plastics).
Part of Greenstar UK and ultimately owned by international renewable energy group NTR plc (www.ntrplc.com), Greenstar WES received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2009 and also won a National Recycling Award and a Valpak Award during the same year.
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Greenstar’s flake went into just over 140 million plastic milk bottles that were made in December with recycled content, over half of all plastic milk bottles produced that month. Its share rose further in January to around two thirds of all milk bottles (about 150 million bottles).
Around 564 tonnes of Greenstar WES’s December production of 689 tonnes of r-HDPE went to the dairy sector. The remaining 125 tonnes were used as recycled content in food trays destined for the shelves of some of Britain’s leading supermarkets. Production increased further in January, and around 600 tonnes are being supplied to milk bottle manufacturers.
Milk worth nearly a quarter billion
Plastic milk bottles are currently made with an average 10% of recycled food grade plastic. This means four grams of r-HDPE flake go into a 40 grams, two litre milk bottle. When filled, the December production run of 141 million bottles had an approximate retail value of up to £238 million, while the value of January’s production is estimated at between £238 million and £253 million. The average supermarket price of a two litre bottle of milk on 26th February varied between £1.59 and £1.69, according to comparison site www.mysupermarket.co.uk.
The UK dairy industry’s Milk Roadmap has a target of using 10% r-HDPE in plastic milk bottles by this year, increasing this proportion to 30% in five years, and to 50% by 2020.
Thanks to its world-leading technology innovation in processing plastics, Greenstar WES supplies much of its r-HDPE to packaging manufacturer Nampak Plastics that makes plastic milk bottles for the major supermarkets. Nampak will take 6,000 tonnes annually of Greenstar WES’s r-HDPE, and is looking to increase the recycled content of its bottles to 30%, in line with the Milk Roadmap.
Greenstar WES has consistently satisfied the high standards demanded by the UK’s three largest dairies – Arla, Dairy Crest and Wiseman – as well as all the major supermarket chains.
Greenstar WES also supplies r-HDPE to plastic food tray manufacturers which add between 10% and 20% recycled content to each new tray made. These are used for supermarket products such as whole and portioned chicken as well as mushrooms. Greenstar estimates its plastic has been used in around one billion poultry trays since August 2008.
A small amount of flake is also now being used by the manufacturers of branded cosmetics containers.
Greenstar WES founder and managing director James Donaldson said: “It’s fitting that we closed an outstanding year by hitting our highest production level - and then beat that in the first month of the new decade.
“The awards we won in 2009 have rewarded our technology innovation that has driven the development of plastic recycling in the UK, and Greenstar WES currently remains the largest producer of r-HDPE in the UK.”
Greenstar WES was the first in the world to develop and commercially apply the technology for converting plastic milk bottles from consumers’ bins into super clean, high grade r-HDPE flake. It has also just won a WRAP grant to set up the processing line for recycling 20,000 tonnes annually of mixed plastics (non-plastic bottle household plastics).
Part of Greenstar UK and ultimately owned by international renewable energy group NTR plc (www.ntrplc.com), Greenstar WES received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Innovation) in 2009 and also won a National Recycling Award and a Valpak Award during the same year.
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