Amcor Completes Upgrades to Recycling Plant in England

Pictured, from left to right, are Gerald Rebitzer, vice president sustainability operations and advocacy at Amcor; Linsey Farnsworth, Labour Party member of parliament for Amber Valley; and Michael Baxter, sustainability director at Amcor.

An upgraded Amcor recycling plant in England will play a role in converting post-consumer and industrial flexible plastic waste into recycled polymers, which are used in Amcor’s flexible packaging applications across multiple markets, the company said in a news release.

Amcor said the updates to the facility in Heanor, which is about 135 miles north of London, is a milestone in the company’s strategy to expand high-performance recycling infrastructure in Europe and support the transition to a circular economy.

Recent investments include the modernization of the wash plant and upgrades to quality and safety systems. The improvements enable an additional 2,800 tons of recyclate to be used in flexible packaging applications, the company said.

Amcor also operates a recycling center at its Steinfeld facility in Germany.

“Together, these facilities form part of a larger cross-European network focused on delivering premium mechanically recycled content for flexible packaging while supporting compliance with legislation such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR),” the company also said.

Both Heanor and Steinfeld operate fully integrated recycling systems—including sorting, grinding, washing, separation, and reprocessing—to convert flexible plastic waste into circular packaging materials for non-contact sensitive applications, collation shrink films for beverage multi-packs, and shrink films for tray-wrapped goods such as canned goods and other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), as well as pallet stretch wrap films.

The facilities also include onsite water treatment systems that allow water to be treated and recirculated, reducing environmental impact, Amcor adds.