News

Milk bottle producer Nampak Plastics has given another boost to recycled materials after signing its biggest-ever deal for recycled HDPE (rHDPE).

The firm has signed to buy 12,000 tonnes/year of the material from AWS Eco Plastics, the plastics firm that is building a food-grade plastics recycling plant in Hemswell, Lincolnshire.

Nampak Plastics already has contracts with both Closed Loop London and Greenstar to provide 6,000 tonnes/year each, but this contract will double the firm’s use of rHDPE and marks a milestone in its quest to use 30% of rHDPE in its milk bottles by 2010.

Business development director James Crick said the deal would allow Nampak Plastics to meet Defra’s Milk Roadmap medium-range target for recycled content ahead of time, and described the deal as a "landmark partnership for us and for the future of HDPE milk bottles".

He added: "The positive climate surrounding milk bottle recycling will be strengthened by this partnership."

AWS chief executive Jonathan Short said the deal was a "major breakthrough" both for his firm and the whole plastics recycling industry and was the result of months of negotiations.

He said that food-grade recycled plastic was "something supermarkets and food manufacturers have been seeking for some time".

Nampak Plastics' two existing contracts with Closed Loop London and Greenstar will allow it to reach its initial target of 10% recycled content in milk bottles during 2009.