Recycling tech company seeks to float on AIM market

GREEN tech firm Recycling Technologies has announced its intention to float on London’s AIM market next month.

The Swindon-based company, which was founded in 2011 by Adrian Griffiths and employs 121 people across its offices in Wiltshire and London, is hoping to raise £40m from the initial public offering.

The business has developed technology to recycle mixed-plastic waste. Its modular and mass producible machine, the RT7000, processes hard-to-recycle plastic waste into a synthetic oil that can be sold back to the petrochemicals industry as a chemical feedstock to make new plastics.

Its small-scale design means it can be integrated with existing waste management infrastructure and Recycling Technologies has said it is planning to mass produce and sell the RT7000.

The first commercial scale RT7000 will be located at Binn Eco Park in Glenfarg, Scotland, with the machine expected to be up and running 12 months after the float.

Adrian Griffiths, chief executive of Recycling Technologies, said: “In our quest for a sustainable, low-carbon existence, we will need plastic.

“It is typically a lower-carbon alternative than other materials in many applications and so we need to quickly build capacity to recycle it, in a way which emits the least carbon.

“Recycling Technologies’ technology, built into the RT7000 machine, will be mass produced to provide such recycling capacity. Our innovative team and engineering expertise will provide a step change in the story of plastic.”

About 368 million tonnes of plastic were produced globally in 2019, with forecasts suggesting this will reach at least a billion tonnes by 2050.

According to Recycling Technologies, only around 12% of plastic waste is currently recycled each year, with the remaining 88% being buried in landfill, burned, or leaked into the environment.

Mars, Nestlé and Unilever are among the consumer goods companies already partnering with the firm.