Latest News
Plastic recyclers from around the world: How innovators are dealing with plastic pollution
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Plastic pollution is a huge problem which is seriously damaging the planet and in particular, our marine landscape. Plastic has been found in more than 60% of all seabirds and in 100% of all sea turtle species as they mistake plastic for food (source: Ocean Conservancy). This is something that’s close to our hearts at DCW Polymers. We make it our mission to recycle as much of the South West’s plastic waste as we can, processing in excess of 100 tonnes of plastic a week. Thankfully, business leaders from around the world are starting to tackle the plastic problem too, becoming plastic recyclers that aim to inspire others to take action. Here, we round up the projects and businesses tackling plastic waste that stood out to us: Surf’s up for wooden body board initiative Plastic Free North Devon (PFND), a charity
Tackling Plastic Pollution in Manufacturing
There is a groundswell of opinion that says we should all be worried about where unwanted plastic ends up and the damage that it can do if it is not managed correctly. For those of us in an industry which works with plastic every day, it is therefore imperative that we try to act positively to improve the use and disposal of plastics. Two Devon based companies have joined forces to try and do their bit to tackle this problem. Teignmouth-based Product Design Consultancy, Hillside Design Ltd (HPDL) develop products from the first sketch concept all the way through to manufacture for a plethora of clients including large multi-national companies and individual private inventors, Director Chris Howsam and his team responsibly source all materials they specify and they ensure those materials meet the highest standards of quality. Chris says, “It has always been a challenge to specify high quality, second
Recycle & Raise
October 2019 saw DCW Polymers launch an exciting recycling scheme that aimed to raise consumer awareness regarding the ease of recycling confectionery tubs, thus preventing volumes of waste plastics from ending up in landfill after the Christmas period. We then donated all the profits from the onward sale of that material to Dartmoor Zoo – a charity that DCW Polymers have proudly sponsored for several years. We provided drop off facilities at all of our DCW Polymers sites and enlisted the help of over 85 local businesses who volunteered to store the tubs for us; including LED Leisure Centres, Tesco, Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital along with many schools and other businesses across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset! We are extremely grateful for the incredible support we received from the general public and the supporting partners for making it such a roaring success. With great interest, the story was covered by
Specialist Plastics Recycling firm invests to help the SW fight war on plastics
As the fight against plastic pollution gains more momentum, a South West business has invested £280,000 to bring a state-of-the-art plastic processing machine to the region and help Devon and Cornwall businesses recycle more. DCW Polymers has installed the next generation plastic recycling machine at its plastics recycling and reprocessing plant in Wrangaton. The new machinery is capable of processing in excess of 100 tonnes of plastic a week. Prior to the arrival of the new shredding and granulating technology, plastics in the South West, especially bulky plastics, from both commercial and domestic sources had often ended up in landfill as it wasn’t economically viable to separate and transport it to processing sites outside the region mainly due to the transport costs. DCW Polymers is the only specialist plastics recycling and reprocessing plant south of Bridgwater. This new plastic processing technology can recycle specialist plastics as well as common industrial