Morrisons Opens a Novel Facility For Recycling Soft Plastics in Fife, Scotland

Soft plastics that are "hard to recycle" will be reprocessed at the brand-new recycling facility in Fife that is co-owned by Morrisons supermarket.

Yes Recycling, which specializes in recycling plants, built and will run the facility. The development of the recycling plant has also involved a number of organizations, such as Zero Waste Scotland and Nestlé UK & Ireland.

According to Morrisons, the new plant is the first of its kind to be able to process a variety of plastics, including films, into materials that can be reused. In order to keep the materials in a closed loop and prevent their export, it aims to expand the UK's plastics recycling infrastructure.

The supermarket claims that the facility will recycle 15,000 tons of post-consumer plastic packaging annually at full capacity.

The seven-year-old technology that powers the new recycling plant is patented. It will transform difficult-to-recycle flexible food packaging into plastic flakes, pellets, and the brand-new Ecosheet, an eco-friendly alternative to plywood that can be used to construct animal barns and stables in the agricultural sector.

From Morrisons distribution centers and supermarkets, the hard-to-recycle soft plastics, which include chocolate wrappers, crisp packets, and food film, will be brought to the site by Cireco Scotland, which also separates the plastics ready for recycling and runs the household kerbside collection service for Fife Council.

Co-owner of Yes Recycling, Omer Kutluoglu, stated: The UK desperately requires more capacity for plastic recycling, particularly for "hard-to-recycle" plastic waste like flexible food packaging. We have developed our new "next generation" recycling plant over the past seven years to handle these materials precisely. It will assist in reviving the UK's plastics recycling industry and serves as a model for the future. We will be able to keep plastic out of our oceans and our country's "circular economy."

Nestlé UK & Ireland's Head of Packaging, Sokhna Gueye, stated: The opening of Yes Recycling in Fife is an extremely exciting development. As Nestlé strives to ensure that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfills or as litter, we pre-invested £1.65 million into the facility. Therefore, it is wonderful to see our packagings, such as Purina pouches or KitKat wrappers, given a second life, thereby contributing to the development of the plastics circular economy.

The packaging, furniture, and plastics products manufacturing industries are showing strong interest in virgin plastics because they can obtain better procurement deals than recycled plastics, which is why the market for recycled plastics is currently moderate. As a result, more quantities of recycled plastics are stored without being sold. As more businesses announce plant acquisitions, expansions, and the opening of new recycling facilities, the scenario could change, and the market for recycled plastics is expected to grow in the months to come.