Justin Tomlinson MP today visited a brand new hi-tech company that has just arrived in Swindon.
"Recycling Technologies" is a manufacturer of energy-from-waste equipment, capable of generating electricity from mixed plastic waste.
The company was spun out of the University of Warwick in 2011, with assistance from Warwick Ventures Ltd, the University's research commercialisation company. Now they have just opened their first design, testing and manufacturing plant in Swindon. There they will manufacture their system, the WarwickFBRTM designed to produce heat and electricity from plastic normally destined for landfill.
Today, according to the waste giant Viridor, 85% of plastic in the UK is still landfilled. Recycling Technologies say that its technology can eliminate this, turning it instead into electricity and heat. Using a process called "Pyrolysis", the mixed plastics are transformed into gas, filtered to remove impurities and condensed to output a wax like fuel. This fuel can then be used in a suitable engine and generator in place of – for example – diesel.
There are many environmental benefits to this process, including enabling a reduction in the transportation of bailed plastics, a reduction in landfill, and the use of waste to create electricity rather than using virgin fossil fuels. Their system will produce enough fuel to generate up to 3 Megawatts of electricity and a similar amount of heat.
Justin Tomlinson MP said "I am always keen to support fledgling new businesses and I was delighted to be asked to official open Recycling Technologies. Yet again Swindon has been chosen as the location for a new, exciting business, helping to both provide new employment opportunities and to be part of a growing, cutting edge technology.
"Here in Swindon we have already achieved an impressive 50% rate of kerbside recycling and this technology would help sustainably deal with much of the remaining waste that we as a society currently send to landfill. The waste to energy market is clearly going to be an important part of our energy supply mix and there is a real opportunity for Swindon to be at the heart of this."
