BPI announces major expansion of its farm plastic recycling facility in Dumfries

British Polythene Industries PLC (BPI) has today announced a major new investment at a cost of some £2 million at its farm plastic recycling facility in Dumfries with the installation of a second wash plant which will double its capacity. The new plant, which is due to be commissioned in June this year, will allow Dumfries to process a further 15,000 tonnes per year of agricultural waste plastic taking its total capacity to 30,000 tonnes.

The investment comes in response to the growing pressure from farmers for outlets to recycle their waste plastic in advance of the new waste controls on farms due to come into force in late Spring of this year. In addition the recent announcement by DEFRA that the Government has decided to implement statutory Producer Responsibility regulations in respect of non-packaging farm plastics has underpinned the demand for new recycling capacity in the UK.

Commenting on the recent announcement by DEFRA, Andrew Green, Managing Director of bpi.recycled products, confirmed: “We are delighted that in response to their recent consultation DEFRA have accepted the case for statutory regulations in this area. Since the collapse of our voluntary industry scheme, Farm Films Producers’ Group, 10 years ago, we have always maintained that the most efficient and lowest cost way to ensure the recycling of plastics from farms was via a mandatory national framework. To a large extent our investment is ahead of a market which will only become sustainable once these regulations come into force. However the announcement from DEFRA has given us the confidence to take a long-term view of further investment in this sector and to subsidise its operation until the market has developed.”

BPI has no plans to collect waste farm plastics itself. It has worked with the Irish Farm Films Producers’ Group (IFFPG) in the Irish Republic for many years and for the collection of waste farm plastic in the UK BPI has chosen to work specifically with Birch Farm Plastics who are extending their collection activity from their current base in Wales and the Border Counties to the UK as a whole. According to Andrew Green, “the Birch family have been involved in collecting farm plastic waste for over 16 years and are probably the most experienced collectors in the country. They have a very efficient, low-cost collection system which is extremely popular amongst the farmers who use their services. We are delighted to be working with them again”.

Andrew Green added: “This is the first phase of our plans substantially to increase both the volume and types of waste farm plastic we recycle and we are currently considering further similar investments in our plant in South Wales and in the Irish Republic.”

Ends

Contact:
Andrew Green
bpi recycled products
07770 321564
andrewgreen@bpipoly.com

Editors’ notes

BPI is the largest producer of polythene film products in Europe and a leading producer of agricultural and horticultural plastic films which it sells worldwide. BPI is also the largest recycler of polythene film in Europe.

BPI established their recycling facility in Dumfries in 1995 to recycle waste arising from the Farm Film Producers’ Group. This was a voluntary industry scheme set up by the major producers and suppliers of farm films into the UK market. This was a levy based scheme where an Environmental Protection Contribution of £100/tonne was applied to the sale of silage wrap to fund its eventual recycling. In its first year of operation the scheme collected 4,000 tonnes of waste plastic from 5,000 farms across the UK. The scheme collapsed in 1996 when two importers chose not to pay the levy as a way of undercutting the market to gain market share.

Since 1996 the plant at Dumfries has recycled agricultural waste plastic predominantly from overseas, principally from the Irish Republic, States of Jersey, Norway, Benelux and Germany.

Dumfries recycles mainly used silage wrap and sheet but can also recycle crop covers, mulch films, tunnel greenhouse films, tree guards, plastic cores and animal feed sacks. It is evaluating the viability of recycling fertiliser sacks and rigid containers.

Dumfries recycles these materials into its range of award-winning Plaswood sustainable wood-substitute products which are used as park and garden furniture, street and countryside signs, bollards and marine decking.

Birch Farm Plastics is a family business based in Wales owned and run by farmers who have been collecting waste farm plastic since 1990. They have established a network of local farmers which optimise collection routes throughout Wales and have recently begun to spread their system throughout the rest of the UK. Birch Farm Plastics is currently collecting plastic waste from over 4,000 farms in Wales and the Border Counties.


DATE: 29/09/2006

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