Following construction commencing on the world’s first HydroPRS advanced plastic recycling site in Teesside, UK, Mura subsidiary ReNew ELP have announced their principal feedstock contract with Geminor UK Ltd.

The new agreement will see at least 15,000 tonnes of PE and PP rich plastic feedstock diverted away from incineration and into recycling annually, making up the bulk of the feedstock supply for the first 20,000 tonnes per annum phase of the 80,000 annual tonnes per annum ReNew ELP project.

Traditionally supplying the Energy from Waste industry, Geminor’s move to supplying the recycling industry with post-consumer plastic packaging waste will bring environmental benefits, with advanced recycling estimated to save approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of waste recycled when compared to incineration, whilst diverting waste plastic away from environmental pollution. Feedstock will be sourced from within the UK, reducing the need to export plastic waste.

"Geminor is very supportive of ground-breaking projects such as ReNew ELP, which enable us to develop new streams of secondary feedstock supply to our offtake partners and to move materials we manage for our customers up the waste hierarchy. Developing the supply chain for the plant will support Geminor’s drive to develop lower carbon-based feedstock streams in other areas of the market, providing a progressive and reliable route for the recycling of waste plastics," says James Maiden, Country Manager, Geminor UK Ltd.

ReNew ELP have formed an agreement with Ecosurety Limited, one of the UK’s leading producer responsibility compliance schemes, for technical support and expertise in securing Environment Agency reprocessor accreditation, as well as auditing and management of data in the National Packaging Waste Database. Ecosurety will also assist with the issuing of recycling evidence known as Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) by ReNew ELP.

By working with Ecosurety, ReNew ELP also hopes to encourage the recycling of flexible plastic materials from Front of Store (FoS) collections via the Flexible Plastic Fund, which encourages collection of post-consumer flexible plastic packaging at stores, funded by a number of international brands.

Sandeep Attwal, Procurement Manager, Ecosurety Limited said, "The first phase of the project will see the construction of one of four recycling lines, each able to process 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, due into operation by the end of 2022 – the remaining three lines will follow in quick succession. Target waste plastic feedstock is post-consumer, contaminated plastic packaging, including flexible materials such as films, pots, tubs and trays which – until now – have been considered unrecyclable. There is no limit to the number of times the same plastic can be recycled using HydroPRS."

"We are delighted to announce that our feedstock capacity for the first 20,000 tonne line is now fulfilled via our partnership with Geminor, which marks a milestone stage in the development of this first HydroPRS recycling facility and helps divert plastic waste away from incineration and export," says Richard Daley, Managing Director, ReNew ELP.