RECOUP (Recycling of Used Plastics Ltd.), a member-based registered charity based in Woodston, United Kingdom, has announced Recycling Technologies, Swindon, U.K., has been recognized for its Plaxx oil product.

Plaxx is a low-sulphur hydrocarbon feedstock derived from residual scrap plastic using a continuous process that can be based at an operator’s site.

Recycling Technologies was one of 15 winners at the annual 2017 Plastics Industry Awards (PIAs) in London Oct. 27. The company took top honors in the category Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year.

Attendees of the RECOUP Plastics Recycling Conference in Peterborough, U.K., Sept. 28 had voted for the winning entry through a one member, one vote system, allowing the award winners to be chosen directly from industry peers, says RECOUP.

Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year, sponsored by RECOUP, went to Plaxx the first hydrocarbon feedstock derived from residual waste plastic using a continuous process that can be based at a waste operators site. Chemical recycling achieves full decontamination and therefore unrestricted re-use.

RECOUP says, “[We] promote and support the award aimed at recognizing innovation and showcasing advances in plastics recycling. This award gives the plastics recycling industry the opportunity to demonstrate commitment to the environment and saving of resources using recycled materials.”

RECOUP continues, “In 2017, the award’s criteria was widened to allow for products in early stages of development, designed within the U.K., to qualify for entry, and Recycling Technologies with their Plaxx product shows how technology is redefining the recyclability of plastics.”

Beyond Recycling Technologies, other companies to enter the PIAs’ Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year category include:

• Hahn Plastics;
• Fishy Filaments;
• Marmax Recycled Products; and
• Axion Polymers & 1env Solutions.

Stuart Foster, CEO of RECOUP, says, “We hope that through connecting with this award we can encourage many others to consider the business and environmental benefits of using recycled plastics in product manufacturing, and help demonstrate that plastic is a circular resource—something that is increasingly critical to the future success of this industry. Use of recycled content is an automatic requirement, not a choice within a circular economy and we need to see significant progress in the use of recycled plastics in manufacturing. Whether this can happen without mandatory requirements in the future is unclear.”

The award draws attention to the advancements being made in recyclability of plastics and demonstrates opportunities, RECOUP says.

“Showing what can be done, and how plastics can be transformed, can drive demand for recycled plastics and broaden the spectrum of markets for plastics,” adds RECOUP.

Adrian Griffiths, CEO of Recycling Technologies, says, “The global issue of plastic waste is growing year on year. Our innovative technology addresses this and chemically recycles mixed plastic waste and turns it back into the oil it came from. We call this oil Plaxx. Our goal is for Plaxx to contribute to the circular economy and help build recycling rates for plastic in the U.K. from the current 40 percent achievable by mechanical means today, up to 90 percent.”

Working in collaboration with industry and technology partners including U.K. universities, Recycling Technologies says it has developed a chemical process, called the RT7000, to recycle what has long been considered “unrecyclable” scrap plastic films, including pouches, trays, tubes and laminates, which account for more than 60 percent of plastic packaging arisings. The RT7000 converts mixed plastic scrap into Plaxx, a waxy, low-sulphur hydrocarbon that is distilled into a suite of materials from wax to naphtha, the feedstock for new plastics manufacturimg. Each unit can annum of waste plastic into approximately convert 7,000 tons per 5,250 tons of Plaxx.

RECOUP is a registered charity and charity and not-for-profit member based organisation. RECOUP works in collaboration with all stakeholders to promote, develop, stimulate and increase the levels of plastics recycling within the U.K.  

Recycling Technologies was formed in 2011 to commercialize the development of a plastic scrap energy conversion technique established originally by the University of Warwick in the U.K.

News Europe publisher, Crain Communications, says the PIAs recognize achievements in 15 categories, including materials usage, product design, manufacturing, training and environmental performance. Entries are judged by a panel of industry experts. Launched in 2001, and held annually in London, the PIAs are dedicated to rewarding innovation in an increasingly competitive market.