Nationally significant plastic recycling site earmarked for Teesside

STOCKTON-based px Group will run the world’s first commercial-scale plastic recycling plant after winning a 10-year contract to perate it.

pxGroup, which is the owner of Saltend Chemicals Park and operator of several critical energy infrastructure sites in the UK and Europe, has won a major operations and maintenance (O&M) contract ReNew ELP.

Based at the Wilton International site, ReNew ELP will use the HydroPRS technology platform to chemically recycle end-of-life plastic.

The HydroPRSTM process uses supercritical water to break down post-consumer plastics into valuable liquid hydrocarbon products including naphtha, gas oils and heavy wax residue, all essential building blocks in the manufacturing of new plastics and other materials.

Unlike traditional mechanical recycling, there is no limit to the number of times plastic can be recycled using this process and it is capable of processing all plastic waste types, including difficult-to-recycle material such as composite films.

At the North-Eastern site, px group and ReNew ELP will initially process over 20,000 tonnes of waste plastic each year, during the first phase of operations.

But the site has scope and planning permission for additional processing lines, which would take its processing capability to over 80,000 tonnes per year.

px Group was selected as Renew ELP’s O&M partner as a result of its health and safety track record, its long-standing O&M nationwide expertise, and the fact that it is a local company.

The contract will directly lead to the creation of around 30 new highly skilled jobs on the site.

The contract is scheduled to begin before the end of the year, tying in with the completion of the construction phase of the project at the Wilton International site.

px commercial director Neil Chapman will lead the project and will work closely with the Renew ELP leadership team at its ground-breaking plant.

CEO Geoff Holmes said: “We have 30 years of hands-on experience developing cleaner energy projects and reducing emissions.

“So, with this contract we will continue to deliver lower-carbon solutions that are required for a sustainable economy and build on our commitment to the energy transition.”

Neil Chapman said: “We are delighted to partner with ReNew and look forward to starting work on this world-leading project. We take pride in applying our ‘owner-operator’ approach to each and every site we’re based at – that means we treat every asset as if it were our own.”

ReNew managing director Richard Daley said: “px Group has a first-rate track record of managing some of the UK’s most important energy and industrial sites, with an exemplary safety record.

“We look forward to working with px Group and the team on-site as we demonstrate the commercial performance of HydroPRS and expand our technological offering around the world.”