Fire continues at AWS Eco Plastics

More than 75 firefighters, in 15 crews, were called to the fire at the Hemswell plastics reprocessing plant that broke out at around 3pm yesterday. Crews spent the night tackling the blaze and five were set to remain on site for the whole of Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue told Packaging News the fire was “ongoing” and that it was likely to be put out today (26 August).

“An investigation [into the cause of the fire] will start today, as long as it is safe to do so,” she said on Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses reports and a video of the fire posted online yesterday showed that black smoke was bellowing into the air, while the sound of gas cylinders exploding has been reported.

One recycling source told Packaging News that the fire was a “tragedy for the whole recycling industry”.

AWS Eco Plastics declined to comment when contacted by Packaging News this morning.

AWS had recently completed a £14m expansion of the Lincolnshire reprocessing facility to turn plastic waste back into food-grade material. Just three weeks ago it reported that the site had received full certification for producing food-contact material.

Before the fire, the Hemswell plant could handle two billion plastic bottles every year, and also segregate a range of plastics collected from local authorities and waste management firms.

At the plant, the bottles are de-labelled, granulated and washed and can then be used in new plastic products such as pipes and packaging.

Eyewitness Richard Hill posted this video of the fire on YouTube on the day it broke out:

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