Recycling on massive scale
Using state-of-the-art technology
Plans have been unveiled for the world’s first industrial scale plastics recycling centre to open in Perthshire.
The £3.4 million project is being spearheaded by Perthshire-based Binn Group, who want to open the ‘Project Beacon’ facility in Glenfarg.
The news was announced by Zero Waste Scotland, which has pledged £1.7m to the scheme.
This sum will be matched jointly by Project Beacon partners, a group of cutting-edge recycling firms: PI Polymer Recycling along with Recycling Technologies Ltd, Impact Recycling Ltd and Binn Group.
The game-changing system being developed uses new state-of-the-art separation technology to support mechanical recycling, fused with a chemical feedstock recycling process.
This includes a patented process based on thermal cracking, which recycles end-of-life plastic waste that typically cannot be recycled using mechanical methods – for example, mixed, laminated, black, film and even contaminated plastic waste, as well as hard plastics.
Binn Group commercial director Jim Brown said the news centre would be constructed and operated at the ever-evolving Binn Eco Park near Glenfarg with Binn Group as supply chain partners.
He said: “While plastic is an extremely useful material and most of our lives have benefited from it in some way, it’s clear that we have a challenge with end-of-life plastic with only 28 per cent of waste plastic in Scotland currently being recycled.
“The recycling and remanufacturing facility that will be built on our site this year will go a long way to address this challenge and deliver real circular economy benefits for Scotland in line with the Scottish Government’s ambitions.”
Zero Waste Scotland chief executive Iain Gulland said: “Project Beacon has the potential to transform plastic recycling in Scotland and beyond and at a time when people
Roseanna Cunningham MSP and Zero Waste Scotland chief executive Iain Gulland at Bonn Eco Park at Glenfarg are increasingly concerned about the impact of plastics dumped in our environment. I’m excited to watch this circular economy business grow and develop.”
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Roseanna Cunnigham paid a visit to the site.
Ms Cunningham, who is also cabinet secretary for the environment, climate change and land reform, said: “Initiatives like Project Beacon have the potential to be ground-breaking as they are finding new uses and economic potential for hard-to-recycle plastics which could make a significant contribution to reducing waste and increasing recycling.”