Southwark Receives First Shipment From Recycled Plastic Bag Scheme
The first shipment of recycled plastic bags from Veolia arrived in the London Borough of Southwark recently, after the successful Bag2Bag trial program in July.
The scheme allows Southwark residents to deposit plastic bags through various collection points in the area as part of a circular economy plastic recycling project. Veolia claims that since July, 1,000 metric tonnes of plastic bags have been recycled into over half a million refuse sacks.
Telford plastics manufacturer ‘CeDo’ collect and reprocess the bags, washing them, shredding them and forming them into LDPE granulate. This granulate can then be turned into new bags.
Darren Merrill, Southwark Council Cabinet member for recycling and the environment said “Plastic bags are rarely collected by local authorities, so I’m happy to be working with Veolia to deliver on our commitment to send fewer materials to landfill”.
Richard Kirkman, Veolia’s Technical Director in the United Kingdom added “This is a great illustration of the shared contribution of Veolia and the residents of Southwark to the circular economy. And if this trial is successful, we hope to roll it out to other local authorities.”
This scheme is great news for the recycled plastic bags industry, which is undoubtedly about to receive a massive boost, as England prepares to introduce the Single Use Plastic Bag Levy that has been massively successful in the rest of the UK.
