UK Recycling Technology Spreads The effort and resources that the EPS Packaging Group has put into supporting new techniques to recycle EPS in the UK — in particular the fish box recycling method developed by Green Waste Recycling (GWR) in S. Wales — has attracted the attention of producers of EPS packaging across Europe. EPS Manufacturers from Portugal and Norway have already visited the UK to investigate fish box recycling methods and Spain are planning a fact-finding trip this autumn. "Our three EPS factories are currently taking back vast amounts of EPS packaging for recycling. We are accredited recycling agents for the 'Green Dot' system* and as such we receive and recycle EPS collected from all over the country. The huge quantities mean that we have far more used EPS than we can deal with. "We consider it is our social responsibility to find an environmental solution to resolve the problem of waste EPS and, in doing so, we hope to safeguard the future of industry." Almeida is Portugese representative to the European EPS industry group, EUMEPS, and has good international links. When he heard about the progress being made in the UK with the recycling of EPS he decided to find out more. "We have two big issues to confront here in Portugal. One is fish box recycling, until now we have not been able to tackle the problem of used fish boxes because of the smell. But when we visited GWR in S. Wales we found it has developed a process that seems to represent an economically viable solution to the problem. "Our second big issue is to find applications for the recycled material that we produce. I visited Highwood on the Isle of Wight who produce an excellent replacement hardwood made with recycled EPS. "We are still studying all the options, but my visits to the UK have been very helpful in finding a solution to our problems." Sverre T Martinsen is a marketing/ technical consultant who has been researching the collection and recycling of EPS in Norway. He works on behalf of Plastretur A/S a non-profit company that oversees EPS recycling in Norway and makes sure that EU requirements are met. "In Norway, freight is very expensive and the EPS is spread all over the country which makes collection difficult. There are large volumes of fish boxes in the west of Norway and we have great problems dealing with them. "To examine different ways of solving these problems, we visited the UK to look at some recycling machinery. The process at GWR is very interesting and I hope that some of our EPS recyclers in Norway could do something similar — at least one is seriously interested. The Spanish delegation is from ANAPE, the Spanish equivalent of the UK EPS Packaging Group. David Horcajada- Schwartz, ANAPE Packaging Manager, says: "I'll be visiting UK this autumn. In Spain we are concerned about the recycling of EPS (we have one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe) and our association is dedicating a lot of effort and resources to increasing the recycling rate." "Spain is one of the largest consumers of fish in Europe, so we have a lot of fish boxes for recycling (both those produced in our country and imported boxes). When I heard about the fish-box recycling project in the UK and the huge increase of the recycling rate in UK I was very interested. "In Spain 7,500 tonnes of EPS fish boxes were produced last year, 26 per cent of the total amount of moulded EPS in Spain. Taking into account the balance between import and export we estimate a total amount of 13,000 tonnes of fish box waste is available for recycling in Spain. I hope my visit to the UK will be a good start in tackling the issue!" Andrew Barnetson, the EPS Packaging Group Environmental Affairs Manager in the UK, is delighted by this international interest: "I am very proud of the work the EPS Packaging Group has put into recycling in the UK. It requires crosscompany co-operation and a great deal of commitment in terms of time and resource to achieve the results we have its great to see the UK leading the way and to be able to help our European colleagues." * Green Dot is a national non-profit making waste collction scheme
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UK Recycling Technology Spreads Across Europe Recycling for Customers and the Local Community World’s First Arcel Recycling Scheme P.S. Global Opinion Survey on EPS
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Luis Miguel Almeida (right), Director, Plástimar Group in Portugal, explains his company's interest: "We are market leaders in Portugal, producing 45 per cent of all EPS in this country, mainly for packaging, but also for construction products.
