One of the UK’s largest dedicated plastic recycling plants officially opens in Corby
Reconomy, the international circular economy specialist, announces that its Eurokey brand has officially opened its £20m, 138,000 sq. ft bespoke plastic recycling facility in Corby, Northamptonshire.
The facility is one of the UK’s largest dedicated plastic recycling plants, helping leading supermarkets, retailers and grocers from across the country recycle plastic packaging in a fully closed-loop system. Eurokey collects plastic packaging that has been used to protect and transport products through the supply chain before they reach supermarket shelves and sorts it using state-of-the-art technology at its nearby facility in Kettering.
The sorted material is then washed, cleaned and recycled at the new Corby site into high-quality pellets. These pellets are supplied back to UK packaging manufacturers, who use them to produce new plastic packaging for the brands supplying products to supermarkets – thus closing the loop.
The site has created more than 30 long-term local jobs and will be able to recycle 38,000 tonnes of plastic material each year.
The unique advantage of the new Corby site is that the UK’s largest supermarkets and retailers will be able to recycle their plastic packaging domestically at a time when the UK remains heavily reliant on exporting plastic material due to limited domestic infrastructure. Latest UK Government data shows that only around half (51%) of plastic packaging is recycled in the UK2.
High energy costs and competition from cheaper virgin plastics have contributed to the loss of significant UK recycling capacity in recent years. Since 2023, 19 UK plastics recycling sites, which had handled some 400,000 tonnes of used plastics, have closed1.
These closures have added to pressure on the supply of high-quality post-consumer recycled plastic. Alongside the cost disparity between virgin plastics and recycled materials, this has made it harder for businesses to increase the amount of recycled content in their plastic packaging since the introduction of the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 20223.
By adding UK recycling capacity, the new site will help ensure more valuable material remains in the UK and increase the domestic supply of recycled plastic. This could help narrow the cost gap over time, helping businesses cut their reliance on virgin plastics and make greater use of recycled content in their packaging.
Hear from our leaders
This is a major milestone for our business and the UK’s plastics recycling industry, which has faced significant headwinds in recent years. The facility will play a critical role in increasing domestic recycling capacity and reducing reliance on virgin plastic. We are delighted to have created new local jobs and look forward to helping our customers keep high-quality plastic packaging in circulation.
Guy Wakeley, Chief Executive
Reconomy
We are proud to strengthen the UK’s plastics recycling industry at this critical time. For over 30 years, our business has been at the forefront of helping leading UK supermarkets and retailers maximise the recycling potential of their plastic packaging. Our new Corby facility strengthens our capabilities and will enable us to deliver even better outcomes for our customers and help them contribute to the circular economy.
Zubair Bajwa, Operations Director
Reconomy brand Eurokey
About Eurokey
Eurokey by Reconomy is a UK and international accredited recycling company with over 30 years of experience providing fully transparent closed-loop recycling services to the UK’s leading supermarkets and retailers.
Eurokey operates two state-of-the-art facilities. Its Kettering site sorts 70,000 tonnes of plastic packaging from supermarkets each year. The sorted plastic is sent to its Corby facility, where it is washed, cleaned and recycled into high-quality pellets. These are supplied back to UK packaging manufacturers, who use them to produce new plastic packaging for the brands supplying products to supermarkets.
Visit Eurokey for more information
