RPC bpi Recycled Products has acquired the Cambridgeshire-based rigid plastics recycling firm PLASgran, the companies have announced.
The deal, which was completed last week, will see the two companies form one of the ‘largest recyclers of rigid and film plastics in the UK and Europe’.
Equipment at PLASgran’s Wimblington plant
PLASgran was launched in 1999 and is run by a management team led by managing director Mark Roberts. At its Wimblington site the company processes around 50,000 tonnes per year of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), high impact polystyrene (HIPs) and poly-propylene (PP) from both post-consumer and post-industrial sources.
The company has invested significantly in its operations in recent years, spending £1.7 million on an EREMA compounding system in 2016 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Expansion
RPC bpi Recycled Products is among the largest polythene film recyclers in Europe, with capacity to recycle up to 70,000 tonnes of used plastic a year.
The company has facilities in Dumfries, Derbyshire, Gwent and Stroud, and processes polythene from commercial, industrial, packaging and agricultural sources.
RPC bpi came into existence following the buyout of the plastics manufacturing and recycling group BPI, by the rigid plastic manufacturer RPC in 2016, in a deal valued at the time at close to £260 million (see letsrecycle.com story).
Plasgran managing director Mark Roberts
Gerry McGarry, managing director of RPC bpi Recycled Products explained: “With PLASgran joining our RPC bpi Recycled Products Group, we are now clearly the largest plastics recycler in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. This is great news not just for both our business and our customers, but for the wider society. We are now in a unique new position to help the UK step up its efforts to meet ever more pressing sustainability goals and to help the environment.
“There is a huge demand for an increase in UK and European plastics recycling for both environmental and commercial reasons. Many major brands and retailers, for example, are quite rightly demanding their packaging is produced and manufactured from genuine recycled used plastics. With our technology, expertise and newly enlarged business, we can offer our customers a true ‘closed loop’ solution for the supply and recycling of their packaging.”
Management
Mr Roberts will continue to oversee PLASgran’s operations following the conclusion of the deal, as well as joining RPC bpi Recycled Products’ business unit executive team.
He said: “We are both respected and well-established recyclers in our markets: RPC bpi recycled products focus on plastic films, whilst we have developed a major presence in the recycling of rigid plastics. Our combined businesses have state-of-the-art recycling equipment, while both teams have an understanding of the issues facing users of plastic packaging who want to see their packaging re-cycled and remanufactured into new products.
“This acquisition provides a major growth opportunity for both our businesses through an extended service offering for our clients. As both organisations accelerate their activities on their environmental stewardship, we will be best positioned to support them on that journey and twin sustainability drives with best business practice.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
