Biffa bought the long-established plastics recovery business Green Circle Polymers, based on the Abbotsinch Industrial Estate near Falkirk, for £10 million in 2021 (see letsrecycle.com story).
As official logistics service partner to the DRS, Biffa is now redeveloping and regenerating the former plastics plant to ensure it can cope with the surge of material expected once the scheme comes into force (see letsrecycle.com story).
Biffa is currently replacing the roof of the building and says it will soon build a new weighbridge and offices.
The company says it will use noise-dampening materials to construct the facility and will install new machinery to separate and count bottles and cans in the new year.
Once Scotland launches its DRS, Grangemouth will form part of a network of facilities that will count, sort and bale all the plastic, glass and aluminium drinks containers collected through the scheme. The material will then be sold to be recycled back into bottles and cans.
Biffa says the new Grangemouth facility will create 130 jobs, from operatives and drivers, to administrators, supervisors and managers. Recruitment will start in the spring.
‘Key role’
Gavin Money, Biffa’s DRS operations director, said: “Working closely with the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland, we’re progressing well with the exciting and ambitious plans for the launch of DRS in Scotland, which will see new recycling infrastructure developed across the country.
We’re progressing well with the exciting and ambitious plans for the launch of DRS in Scotland
- Gavin Money, Biffa’s DRS operations director
“Grangemouth will play a key role, handling some of the billions of plastic, glass and metal drinks containers collected each year from across Scotland.
“The town has good transport links, a rich history and experience of recycling, and a strong and knowledgeable workforce.”
Biffa says it is also working with Circularity Scotland to explore the opportunity to build a PET recycling plant in Scotland to support the scheme and deliver further employment opportunities.
DRS
From 16 August 2023, if a premises sells drinks to consumers in Scotland then it must provide a return point to accept empty bottles and cans.
Under the DRS, consumers will pay a 20p deposit when purchasing a drink in a single-use container made from PET plastic, steel, aluminium or glass. The deposit will be refunded when the empty container is returned.
A pilot DRS delivered by Zero Waste Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government launched on the Orkney Islands last week and will run until the full nationwide roll-out of the scheme next year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Biffa announced that Circularity Scotland had awarded it a 10-year contract to provide logistics, sorting and counting services for the Scottish DRS by in July (see letsrecycle.com story).
Under the contract, Biffa will collect bottles and cans from around 30,000 locations across Scotland and build and operate eight bulking stations and three counting centres, of which the Grangemouth facility is one (see letsrecycle.com story).
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